3Data Governance within the COS organization structure
Within this draft, Data Governance is a process that would require a group to be formed that would report to the President or designee and function as an “Operational Group” as defined in the 2022 COS Governance and Decision-Making handbook, page 11. This group would be called the Data Management Council.
Data will be categorized as part of certain data domains based on type and origin in order to establish ownership within the organization. These domains are as follows:
The overall structure or framework for data governance is depicted in the following diagram:
Roles and responsibilities
Executive Sponsor
The executive sponsor is a senior employee who is charged with coordinating data governance activities and programs. The role of the executive sponsor is to serve as the conduit between senior management and the data governance lead or Data Management Council and is authorized to make decisions and take actions.
(Recommendation for COS, Superintendent/President)
Data Governance Lead
The data governance lead is responsible for all aspects of defining and operating the data governance policies and supporting the multiple data domains. They are ultimately responsible for implementing the data governance program vision, promoting the role of governance and enforcing policy, while following data governance best practices.
Traditionally, this role sat under IT and tended to be the responsibility of the Chief Information Officer (CIO) or even the Chief Technology Officer (CTO). There are still quite a few organizations where this is still occurring, but it’s no longer recommended. In many institutions, this role sits with the head of the office of Institutional Research.
Whomever the role is given to, its main responsibility is to provide leadership, support, sponsorship, and understanding of data governance to other departments.
(Recommendation for COS, Co-Lead between Dean of Research and Chief Technology Officer)
Domain Owners
Domain Owners are members of Senior Management (Vice Presidents or direct reports to the Superintendent/President). These are individuals within the organization who are responsible for the overall management and governance of specific sets of data, referred to as "data domains." They are responsible for implementing the policies, standards and practices associated with the data in their domain area. As owners, they are also responsible for the appropriate treatment of data in their area ensuring quality, accuracy, completeness, and integrity of the data in their domain and should be aware of the regulations, policies, and laws governing data.
Domain Owners will appoint Data Managers who are COS managers that will represent their domain within the data governance process. Depending on the size of the domain, multiple Data Managers may be needed to represent all data needs within the domain. The Domain Owners will also ensure that the governance processes and decisions are followed within their domain, working with those they appointed within their normal reporting structures as Data Managers. When data-related issues or conflicts arise, they take ownership of the issues and work with relevant teams to resolve and prevent similar issues in the future.
Finally, Domain Owners will sign off on governance related items that have been processed through the work of the Data Management Council. Providing this high-level involvement and approval ensures that data related issues and decisions are owned by members of Senior Management and will lead to better understanding and trust of the data used to inform district decisions.
Data Managers
Data Managers are COS managers who have been appointed by their Domain Owner to represent the data within the domain area. These individuals should have decision making authority about business processes, definitions, data quality, data accessibility, and data retention requirements within their data domain. Data Managers need to know or be aware of the regulations, policies, and laws governing their data including data privacy laws. They also need to know the business needs, rules, procedures, and constraints associated with their data domain.
Data Managers will be key members of the Data Management Council for their domain and should actively participate in creating data definitions, refining business practices, troubleshooting and resolving data related problems, and collaborating with other members of the Data Management Council to ensure the effective use and management of data across the district.
Data Experts
Data Experts are the individuals within departments with extensive knowledge about specific data elements used in their daily work. Ideally, they know where the data lives, what it represents, how it is used, how it is entered and maintained. They are the front line for data quality management and work to identify and address data inconsistencies, errors, and missing data. They should assist in keeping documentation of business processes updated and will be brought into the Data Management Council as elements that relate to their data expertise are discussed or processed.
Constituents
constituents are any individual or group of individuals who have a vested interest in specific data. They may be directly or indirectly affected by the collection, management, analysis, or usage of data within the organization. Data constituents can come from various departments and levels within the organization and may also play other roles within the data governance framework. A constituent brings issues into the data governance framework.
COS Data Steward
The COS Data Steward is a position within the Technology Services Applications team at COS. In terms of data governance, this position serves to coordinate data governance processes for the district and oversees the maintenance of data definitions, data standards, best practices, training, and documentation of these items. The Data Steward will manage the workflow of items through the governance process, call meetings with Research and Applications to determine feasibility and priority of issues and call meetings bringing domain representatives into the Data Management Council to work through items that are within or affect their data domain. Lastly, coordinate the communication of items through the approval process by the Domain Owner(s).
Applications Representatives
Applications team representatives consist of the Applications Manager and at least two others (Senior Programmer Analyst or Programmer Analyst) to assist the group in the feasibility, priority, and collection of business specifications in order to complete the draft work. Depending on the Data Domain identified for the issue, the members from the Applications team that are most familiar will represent Applications on the Data Management Council.
Research Representatives
Institutional Research team representatives consist of one or two members of the Research office to assist the group in the feasibility, priority, and collection of business specifications in order to complete the draft work. They will also participate in the Data Management Council work.
Data Management Council
The Data Management Council is the group that brings together the appropriate individuals who fill the roles depicted in the framework above representing Applications, Research, the Data Steward, the Data Governance Lead, plus the Data Managers and Data Experts from the domain(s) whose data issue is being worked on by the group. The chart below depicts the workflow of an item through the governance process.
Path through the Data Governance Process
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