Data Governance Framework

Clayton State University data trustees, designated by the data owner, are executives of Clayton State University who have overall responsibility for the data read, created, collected, reported, updated, or deleted in their data area(s). Clayton State’s data trustees have overall responsibility for the accuracy and timeliness of submission of data to the University System Office. These positions/offices would normally be cabinet-level positions reporting directly to the entity data owner.

Responsibilities of the data trustees include, but are not necessarily limited to:

• Ensuring that data accessed and used by units reporting to them is done so in ways consistent with the mission of the office and Clayton State University;
• Appointing data stewards within each functional area for which they are responsible; 
• Participating as a member of the Data Governance Committee; and,
• Communicating unresolved concerns about data (such as data quality, security, access, etc.) to the data owner.

Clayton State University data stewards, designated by the data trustees, are personnel responsible for the data read, used, created, collected, reported, updated, or deleted, and the technology used to do so if applicable, in their data area(s). Data stewards recommend policies to the data trustees and establish procedures and guidelines concerning the access to, completeness, accuracy, privacy, and integrity of the data for which they are responsible. Individually, data stewards act as advisers to the data trustees and have management responsibilities for data administration issues in their functional areas. Data stewards have responsibility for the accuracy and timeliness of submission of data to the USG system office in their area. Depending on the size and complexity of a functional department/division, it may be necessary, and beneficial, for a designated data steward to identify associate data stewards to manage and implement the stewardship process.

Responsibilities of the data stewards include, but are not necessarily limited to:

• Developing standard definitions for data elements created and/or used within the functional unit. The data definition will extend to include metadata definitions as well as the root data element definition;
• Ensuring data quality standards are in place and met;
• Identifying the privacy level as unrestricted, sensitive, or confidential, for functional data within their area(s) of supervision/direction and communicate it to those responsible for ensuring data is handled according to its appropriate classification. (See 21.4.2 Classification);
• Establishing authorization procedures with Clayton State’s Data Governance Committee and/or Chief Information Officer (CIO) to facilitate appropriate data access as defined by institutional/office data policy and ensuring security for that data. Authorization documentation must be maintained;
• Working with Clayton State’s Data Governance Committee, identifying and resolving issues related to stewardship of data elements, when used individually or collectively, that cross multiple units or divisions. For example, the individual data element “Social Security Number” may have more than one data steward since it is collected or used in multiple systems;
• Participating as a member of the Functional Data Governance Committee(s) as appointed by the data trustee; and,
• Communicating concerns about data (such as data quality, security, access, etc.) to the data trustees.

A data user has access to university data as part of assigned duties such as staff members who have direct responsibility for entering and using data.

Examples:

• Financial Aid staff member who creates aid packages for students;
• Human Resources staff member who enters data relating to new hires; and,
• Data Analyst who creates reports for the institution.

Every Clayton State University employee enters, edits, maintains, and deletes a variety of data as a part of their assigned duties. Everyone is a data user.  Information Technology Services does not own the data, the data is owned by the university and managed by institution’s employees.  There are data sets that are managed by the University System of Georgia (USG), data sets that are provided by third parties, and data sets that may be on paper or cards. 

As a data user, each employee

• Must be aware of the standards set by the institution to ensure that data, both paper and electronic, is entered and maintained by adhering to the quality standards set; and,
• Data users may participate on functional or technical committees responsible for determining policies and procedures to be included as part of the data governance process.

Resources:

• CSU Data Governance Charter
• CSU Policies, Standards, and Guides
• USG Business Procedure Manual Section 12
• USG IT Handbook