Data Stewards

Administrative data is owned by the University and should be shared appropriately to meet the needs of the University and its customers. Data is to be managed by a Data Steward as a University resource and asset.

The Data Steward has the responsibility to ensure that the tasks listed below take place. The activities required to accomplish these tasks will be assigned either for initial and/or long-term accomplishment. The results of the tasks will be available as needed. Training, for instance, needs to be designed initially, and then carried out both for initial groups and continually as staff turnover occurs. The Data Steward is responsible for assuring that the results of the activities meet the needs of the University for this data.

A Data Steward must participate with IT Data Administration staff, application development teams, and knowledgeable departmental staff on projects creating, maintaining, and using University data.

• Data Steward Membership
• Data Steward Appointment Process
• Data Steward Responsibilities

Data Steward Appointment Process

The vice president for each business area will, through their departmental computing manager, assign a Data Steward for their administrative area. The term of appointment for a Data Steward is undefined; however, brief terms will not enhance this process. As with any role or position, planning for replacement is facilitated by the Data Steward sharing knowledge of their responsibilities with others serving as data analysts.

To effectively fill the Data Steward role, an individual should have:

• Broad-based knowledge of the data for which they are a steward. This knowledge should encompass all uses of the data as viewed from the University's perspective.
• Knowledge of how University business processes relate to their data.
• The flexibility to view their data as a University resource.
• The ability to work effectively within a team in performing the required tasks.
• The ability to communicate effectively in response to questions concerning the data.
• The ability to communicate effectively in writing in the many definition and documentation tasks involved in this role.
• The ability to utilize appropriate interpersonal styles and methods of communication to encourage the proper use of the University's information resource.
• The ability to complete work in sufficient detail to ensure integrity and completeness, and to identify inconsistency.

Responsibilities

• Review and update membership; document data owners 
• Collaborate with information owners and as necessary, privacy and security officers, to ensure appropriate data access and sharing authorization and review processes are in place 
• Coordinate data-related Web Certification processes 
• Review and revise data handling policies, standards, and guidelines 
• Review external law and policy to ensure compliance (Ex. DOD requirements on cybersecurity, GLBA) 
• Review and document the classification of data fields, including but not limited to public/ sensitive/restricted in Data Cookbook. Also designate in Data Cookbook the security role required to access content.  
• Collaboration with other data committees as data governance structure is put into place  
• Serve as a point of contact for policy questions and appropriate use and access 
• Elevate items for legal review to Office of Legal Counsel 
• Access to content (reports, folder-level, dashboards) is determined by Content Stewards 
• Data access and sharing authorization is part of the Data Stewards responsibilities   

Data Steward Members - 11/15/24