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Steering Committee

Data Governance Steering Committee

As part of an update to the UW’s approach to data governance, the Data Governance Steering Committee was charged in 2019 with executing a comprehensive data and analysis strategy for the University.

The committee includes the six senior leaders who serve as Institutional Data Stewards in the UW’s data stewardship model and key stakeholders in data management from across the UW’s three campuses, Continuum College and UW Medicine.

The committee’s charge asks them to work on behalf of the UW as a whole.

The Steering Committee works closely with the Data Governance Operational Committee and data domain councils, referring issues to those groups for further analysis or recommendations and serving as the final stop for data governance issues elevated by those groups.

Current Members

  • Phil Reid, Vice Provost for Academic and Student Affairs and Professor, chair
  • Andreas Bohman, Vice President and Chief Information Officer, UW Information Technology
  • Beth Britt, Director of Analytics, IT Services, UW Medicine
  • Marlon Buchanan, Sr. Director, Technology and Data Services, Continuum College
  • Anja Canfield-Budde, Associate Vice President for Information Management, UW Information Technology
  • Lou Cariello, Vice President, UW Facilities
  • Mary Gresch, Senior Vice President, University Advancement
  • Erin Guthrie, University Data and Analysis Officer, Office of Planning & Budgeting
  • Sarah Hall, Vice Provost, Office of Planning and Budgeting
  • Mindy Kornberg, Vice President, UW Human Resources
  • Jim Kresl, Assistant Vice Provost and Director, ORIS, Office of Research
  • Joe Lawless, Assistant Chancellor for Strategy and Assessment, UW Tacoma
  • Amy Stutesman, Interim Assistant Vice Chancellor for IT and Chief Information Officer, UW Bothell Planning and Administration
  • Carole Palmer, Professor and Associate Dean for Research, Information School

Ex-officio members

  • Ann Nagel, Associate Vice Provost and Institutional Privacy Official, Academic & Student Affairs
  • Marisa Nickle, Sr. Director, Strategy & Academic Initiatives, Office of the Provost/Academic & Student Affairs

Activity

Visit the Strategy & Initiatives page for a list of current and past topics the committee has addressed.

Meeting Topics and Outcomes

The Data Governance Steering Committee meets bi-monthly with occasional exceptions. Meeting topics and outcomes are listed below.
This page will be updated every other month. Last update June 2023.

DG Survey Results
Reviewed most valuable DG efforts, both completed and ongoing, and discussed DG operational committee’s next step, which is to update the DG roadmap based on survey respondents top priorities and present the roadmap to DG steering committee.

IOS Updates
Discussed update on IOS development, implementation, and mapping from of hierarchies in domains that have relied on FinOrg.

General Updates

  • Discussed the current status and next steps on the IOS development.
  • Human Resources and Research Data Governance Domains shared updates on the development of new hierarchies to replace those that previously relied on FinOrg.
  • Discussed current plans for mapping new hierarchies and implementing IOS, and additional resources required to do so.
  • Discussed recent work of the newly-established Core Data Term Vetting group.
  • Discussed updates regarding the development of Data 101 and Core Data trainings and adjusted timeline.

Payroll Ledger Updates

  • Reviewed a briefing of an issue related to payroll ledger access in Workday Finance.
  • Reviewed recommendations to address the issue put forward by the Data Governance Operational Committee and the Privacy Steering Committee, as well as the Attorney General’s Office prioritization of those recommendations.

Decisions:

  • Ask users to sign the access/use agreement as the short-term solution.
  • Create a small task force to explore options for implementing the access/use agreement before FT go-live.
  • Institutional data domain stewards will discuss further the need to develop a plan for longer-term solutions to this and similar issues in the future.

Hierarchy Updates

  • Draft for IOS is currently being reviewed by relevant units.
  • Data Domain Chairs provided updates and next steps on their data hierarchies.

Core Data Management Updates

  • Reviewed status and goals of Data 101 and Core Data 201 trainings.
  • Discussed updates regarding the Location Data Domain Council  formation and upcoming work.
  • Core Data Term Vetting team will start work on institutionally approved term definitions in January 2023.

Payroll Ledger Access

  • Reviewed an issue raised by the HR and Finance domains related to the potential exposure of sensitive information through finance payroll journals.
  • Approved next steps of vetting options with AG, Privacy, and the Data Governance Operational Committee.

  1. Brief recap about the need for IOS and data domain hierarchies
    Level-setting for the need for new hierarchies to replace the FinOrg hierarchy that will go away with FT implementation
  2. Review of HR Hierarchy Phase B Report
    • The HR data domain shared a summary of Phase B work, including that none of the current hierarchies meet HR data domain needs, presented a recommendation to create a new HR Hierarchy given the other alternatives considered, and asked for approval of the recommendation and to move to Phase C based on estimated costs
    • Decision: the Steering Committee approved the recommendation to create an additional HR Hierarchy pending more detailed requirements on cost estimate

  1. Updates and introductions
    Shared updates from the domain councils and introduced new member Andreas Bohman, Vice President for IT and Chief Information Officer
  2. Location data
    • Discussed the status of location data and its relation with core data management
    • Decision: confirmed that the InVision system should be the UW location data system of record
  3. Pronouns
    • Discussed the desire for voluntary pronoun self-identification on UW Identity website and current designs to implement
    • Evaluated potential issues with implementation, scope
    • Determined next steps, including further discussions in the HR data domain council and privacy steering group

  1. Institutional Org Structure Updates
    Outcomes: Presentation of the IOS Phase C Report, including status and recommendations for resources, change management and communications needed to progress at a reasonable pace.
  2. Institutional Org Structure Discussion: Resources & Process
    Outcomes: Discussed and identified current and future resources needed to proceed with IOS Phase C recommendations. Discussed suggestions for decision-making across domain mapping when issues arise.
    Decision: If/when IOS-related mapping issues arise that cannot be resolved by the data domains working together and/or through the Data Governance Operational Committee, data domain council chairs should escalate them to the Data Governance Steering Committees for final decisions.

  1. Review of IOS current state
    Outcome: Phase A Task Force shared IOS background, updates and recommendations
  2. Discussion of decisions needed from this committee:
    Outcome: Discussion of mapping and remediation, a technical solution, and policy. Decisions to align IOS to APS 1.1 and 1.2, to begin remediation in all data domain councils, to request EA support for the HR domain’s SupOrg remediation, to prototype a tool for a technical solution, and to socialize this work with Medicine

  1. Core Data Management – Location Data
    Outcome: Discussion of time-sensitive FT needs around location data and their impacts. Decision to request a deeper dive by the Operational Committee before deciding on a system of record for core location data.
  2. IOS high level update
    Outcome: Briefing by the task force on the status of the IOS effort

  1. Operational Committee Updates
  2. Access and roles in light of FT exigencies and UW’s approach to open financial data
    Outcome: Discussed and decided to endorse the Financial Data Domain Council task force as a pilot while working simultaneously on an overarching philosophy across domains

  1. New members
    Outcome: Welcome and onboarding of new Institutional Data Domain Stewards as part of the launch of a new approach to UW Data Stewardship
  2. Updates on select, priority ongoing efforts
    Outcome: Brief overview and updates from task force leads on Institutional Organization Structure, Finance Transformation/Data Governance sync task force, and Core Data Management

  1. Operational Committee Updates
  2. Core Data Management (CDM)
    Outcome: Finalized a white paper outlining CDM near-term priorities and endorsed moving forward on implementation with a clarification that existing systems and expertise will be leveraged and that the Data Governance Operations Committee will work with the new data domain councils of stewards to address CDM work.
  3. Enterprise Organization Codes task force recommendations
    Outcome: Reviewed and voted to endorse moving forward on the report’s recommendations. Discussed next steps.
  4. Data Stewardship Update
    Outcome: Launching stewardship of the Finance domain first, followed by HR. Finance domain leaders include Institutional Data Steward Sarah Hall, VP of the Office of Planning and Budgeting, and Domain Council Chair Ann Anderson, AVP for Enterprise Services, UW Finance.

  1. Operational Committee updates
  2. Task Force updates
  3. Core Data Management updates
  4. Enterprise Organization Codes task force recommendations
    Outcome: Provided preliminary feedback on recommendations with action item to provide additional feedback on the report

  1. Operational Committee updates
  2. Task Force updates
  3. Core Data Management
    Outcome: Provided preliminary feedback on a draft white paper on implementing CDM near-term priorities
  4. Finance Transformation/Data Governance task force recommendations
    Outcome: Provided preliminary feedback on recommendations with action item to provide additional feedback on the report, once finalized

  1. Operational Committee updates
  2. Task Force updates
  3. Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) Codes task force recommendations
    Outcome: Discussed and endorsed recommendations
  4. New data stewardship model
    Outcome: Provided feedback on proposed new model for data stewardship and discussed the role of data governance groups in the new model; recommended developing a RACI matrix to clarify roles

  1. Operational Committee updates
  2. Task Force updates
  3. Core Data Management
    Outcome: Feedback on an updated CDM framework with near-term priorities
  4. Finance Transformation/Data Governance task force draft master metadata and reference data guardrails
    Outcome: Provided input to task force chairs on draft guardrails before it goes to FT sponsors team for approval; discussed potential relevance beyond FT to enterprise CDM
  5. Data stewardship

  1. Operational Committee updates
  2. Task Force updates
  3. Core Data Management
    Outcome: Discussed ideal versus UW current state of CDM, refined a draft CDM framework and began identifying near-term priorities

  1. Operational Committee updates
  2. Task Force updates
  3. Core Data Management Presentation & Discussion
    Outcome: Committee explored two use cases (Funding Entities Master Data and Finance Transformation-related master data) and discussed how data governance groups might add value to core data discussions *Note: UW data governance decided to use the term “core data” in lieu of “master data.”

  1. Operational Committee updates
  2. Task Force updates
    Outcome: Data Governance/Finance Transformation Task Force and Enterprise Organization Structure Task Force charge letters going out shortly, with task force timelines coordinated with FT milestones; Classification of Instructional Programs charge letter to follow soon after
  3. Communications/outreach updates
    Outcome: Data Governance Update slide deck available for committee members to share with their units and other data-relevant groups of which they are members
  4. Discussion of Master Data
    Outcome: Request for more information on best practice and peer benchmarking around Master Data Management

  1. Operational Committee Updates
  2. Updates: Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) Codes process
    Outcome: Task force charge letter in progress
  3. Discussion of implementation and integration of UW organization structure
    Outcome: Based on a presentation of issues raised for data governance consideration, approved the formation of a task force to make recommendations for an organizational code structure that is system agnostic, would provide consistency across the UW and can be consumed by various systems
  4. Discussion of current state of UW Data Trustees & Custodians
    Outcome: Operational committee will re-evaluate the current data stewardship model and revise it, to better position data stewardship for success and to address known issues

  1. Operational Committee Updates
  2. Draft hallmarks of success for data governance
    Outcome: Finalized and adopted the updated hallmarks of success
  3. Discussion of where UW falls on a data governance maturity model
    Outcome: Reviewed results of Data Governance Maturity Self-Test completed by steering committee members
  4. Discussion of intersections between Finance Transformation and Data Governance
    Outcome: Approved the formation of a task force to identify and suggest a path forward for items of shared interests for data governance and Finance Transformation
  5. Discussion of Classification of Instructional (CIP) Codes process
    Outcome: Based on a presentation of issues raised for data governance consideration, members approved the formation of a task force to re-evaluate the CIP code process and make recommendations to the committee for improving the process and implementing mandatory changes to CIP codes in 2020

  1. Introduction: Data governance history, roles and responsibilities at UW
  2. Other data-relevant groups
    Outcome: Identified data relevant committees/groups at the UW and data governance committee members who will serve as primary liaisons to those groups to enable two-way communication between data governance and other data-relevant committees/groups
  3. Discussion of draft hallmarks of success for data governance
    Outcome: Modified draft document to include feedback from committee members
  4. Discussion of where UW falls on a data governance maturity model
    Outcome: Data Governance Maturity Self-Test sent to steering committee members to complete