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Data Governance Charter

Information is a strategic asset of all University System of Georgia (USG) organizations and is critical to administration, planning and decision-making.  Effective and responsible use of information requires that data is secure, well documented, and accessible for use by authorized, trained personnel.[1]

Clayton State will use a collaborative, iterative, and empirical process to define and implement policies to protect our data and systems.  This process must work within the Data Governance framework outlined in the University System of Georgia Business Procedures Manual Section 12.2.

Data, and the means to share, analyze, and manage data, is a necessary and essential component of teaching, administration, and research.  Our approach to managing data emphasizes the Core Values of Clayton State:

  • Collegiality: Individuals and interactions that are governed by respect and collaboration over processes and tools
  • Excellence: Emphasize procedures and technology that works for us versus creating more work
  • Innovation: Responding to change over strict adherence to a plan

Policies, procedures, and standards will be developed by individuals who use the data to perform their daily tasks.  Faculty and staff who use data and information systems to do their jobs will be asked to form committees (Work Groups) that are responsible for identifying issues of data reliability and security, training to help users secure and manage the quality of data, and other solutions relevant to their daily work.  Systems managers and engineers (Technical Committees) will examine the proposals of these committees to make sure the proposals are feasible.  The job of the Data Governance Committee is to ensure the operational effectiveness of the solutions that are implemented, and that Clayton State University policies and procedures address external security policy requirements.

Committee Structure

An important part of the Data Governance Structure is group decision making. Three committees have been established to achieve this goal.

The Data Governance Committee is responsible for defining, implementing, and managing policies and procedures for data governance and data management functions.

Specific responsibilities include, but are not necessarily limited to the following:

  • Defining data management roles and responsibilities contained in this section and other policy and procedure documentation;
  • Maintaining documentation pertaining to data governance and management policy and procedure in a centralized and accessible location for the participant organization staff;
  • Identifying the Data Governance and Management Committee structure and membership;
  • Ensuring that cybersecurity control processes detailed in the Cybersecurity section are developed and operational; and,
  • Assisting the chairs of the functional and technical committees to ensure effectiveness.

The primary role of the Data Governance Committee is to ensure implementation of University System of Georgia Business Procedures Manual section 12.

The following members serve on the committee:

  • Ceimone Henderson-Strickland (Committee Chair), Office of the President
  • Dawn Krieger, Director Cybersecurity, Information Technology Services
  • Corlis Cummings,  General Counsel, Office of the President
  • Jim Pete, Vice President, Information Technology Services and Chief Information Officer
  • Nick Henry, Vice President, Business and Operations
  • Ashlee Spearman, Vice President for Enrollment Management and Student Success
  • Kevin Demmitt, Interim Vice President and Provost, Academic Affairs
  • Montrese Adger Fuller, Vice President, University Advancement
  • Georj Lewis (Data Owner), President

The functional data governance committees are responsible for specific data groups (like financial aid, accounting, etc).  The committees are expected to work with the data users (e.g. managers and users) to create policy to achieve the objectives of all data policies.  The functional committees propose policies, procedures and standards to the Data Governance Committee for approval.  Data stewards and data users are members of functional committees.

Committee members will be data stewards and other individuals familiar with applications and data for a work area like financial aid, enrollment, etc.

The Technical Data Governance Committee is responsible for technical guidance to support the work of the other Data Governance Committees and for decision making about the feasibility of and methods for carrying out decisions of the Functional Data Governance Committees.

Members of the Technical Data Governance Committee will join other committee meetings when requested and meet separately as needed.

 

[1] Business Procedures Manual, Section 12.0: Data Governance and Management, University System of Georgia, found at https://www.usg.edu/business_procedures_manual/print/section12, accessed 13 March 2020.