Question
What are the Data Governance Roles?
Answer
- Data Trustee
- Data Steward
- Data Custodian
- Data Appointees
- Data Affiliates
- Data Users
Data Trustee
Data Trustees are the highest-ranking individuals accountable for what happens with and to data at your institution. They might be members of the highest oversight organization to which issues are escalated, and they likely have strategic-planning and policy-setting authority. Data trustees provide a broad view of data, approve policies, resolve questions of procedure, and ensure that data plans are consistent with and in support of university strategic plans. Example trustees include vice presidents and vice provosts.
Data Stewards
Data Stewards are those individuals who are responsible for promoting appropriate data use through planning, policy, and protocols in the SDBOR system. Data stewards provide university-level knowledge and understanding for a specific data area (e.g., student data, financial data, HR data, or alumni development data). Data stewards are responsible for data quality and data integrity, including consistent data definitions and their application throughout connected systems. They collaborate with other stewards to ensure that overlap areas (e.g., student employees and employees who are students) work across the board and that system updates are scheduled reasonably and tested appropriately. Data stewards work with security, privacy, and compliance officers to ensure that data are classified correctly, and that appropriate training is provided to users who will interact with data. Example stewards are the university registrar and university HR director.
Data Custodians
Data Custodians are those individuals who are responsible for ensuring that policies are followed within specific user areas (e.g., colleges, departments, and administrative offices) and that local procedures are consistent with university policies and procedures. Example custodians include departmental HR managers and academic advisors.
Data Guardians
Data Guardians are supportive, but parallel, to the rest of the roles outlined here. They are typically made of technology and personnel responsible for monitoring activities affecting data at rest and in transit and for implementing access and security controls required by data stewards based on data classification. Example guardians include personnel in networking, data center operations, systems administration, and information security.
Data Appointees
Designated Appointees are non-employees holding an appointment with the South Dakota Regental System (ex. academic no-pay) that are authorized as eligible to access institutional data by the head of their department, division, college, or campus.
Data Affiliates
Affiliates are non-SDBOR organizations that operate in capacities other than as service providers to the institutions or the SDBOR as a whole.
Data Users
Data users include the people, organizational units, and information systems that are granted access to data for specific uses. Among many examples, end users may include staff tasked with entering data and managing the records of students, employees, financial transactions, etc.; persons granted access to data for analysis and reporting; or downstream information systems such as parking or residence hall management programs that ingest and/or transform data for a specific purpose. End users should clearly understand their responsibilities with data entrusted to them. Example end users include HR administrators and registration processors.