Data Management and Governance

The project started with a current state assessment and data governance roadmap as Phase 1.

• The roadmap will inform a strategy for a modern data platform to support the institution's data governance, data management and business intelligence and analytics goals.

• The roadmap will be reviewed and then likely spawn several additional projects within the program throughout the next several years.

• In parallel to the roadmap, data governance will begin establishing enterprise-wide data governance structures to align data definitions, priorities and reporting needs. The project will leverage the existing WVU Data Governance Committee at the University.

The data governance roadmap then will inform what proof of concept is chosen as Phase 2.

• The proof of concept will include the procurement and implementation of a modern data platform capable of providing enterprise-grade business intelligence and analytics capabilities in conjunction with data management and governance efforts using a specific set of use cases to test the initial data structure and tools.

• Lisa Castellino-Gergich, Team Lead and Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs
• Amy Alton, Senior Business Planning Officer
• Sucharitha Bachanna, Director of Enterprise Applications for Information Technology Services
• Laci Cale, Development Reporting Lead for Information Technology Services
• Jason Dean, Assistant Dean of the College of Engineering and Mineral Resources
• Philip Douthitt, Associate Dean for Potomac State College
• Greg Dunaway, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences
• Laura Gibson, Senior Associate Vice President for Research and Graduate Education; Associate Dean of Research for the School of Medicine
• Priyatham Godavarthi, Enterprise Middleware Specialist for Information Technology Services
• Jerod Hall, Interim Executive Director of Enterprise Applications for Information Technology Services
• Sally Hodder, Associate Vice President for the Health Sciences Center
• Josh Imes, Interim Registrar
• John Loeffelbein, Director of Enterprise Database Administration for Information Technology Services
• Donielle Maust, Director of RES Institutional Research
• Rebecca Meyer, Director of Talent and Culture Administration
• Sheena Murphy, Associate Vice President of Research
• Sandra Oerly-Bennett, Assistant Vice President of Student Financial Services
• Jeffrey Pratt, Assistant Vice President of Procurement Contracting and Payment Services
• Liz Reynolds, Director of Institutional Analytics
• Louis Slimak, Associate Provost for Academic Affairs
• Grant Smith, Director of Business Intelligence and Data Analytics
• Jessica Vanderhoff, University Librarian

The WVU Data Management and Governance Design Team in worked together in conjunction with our consulting partner to deliver:

• Current State Discovery, Requirements Gathering and Prioritization: University-wide interviews and focus groups were conducted to solicit and categorize current state and pain points. Requirements where collected for data management and analytics software to meet University needs, which lead to the selection of Tableau as the University’s primary analytical tool for the future.
• Iterative Pilot: The team designed and prototyped the DFW dashboard, documented business glossary and data dictionary supporting the dashboard, and then reviewed and refined the prototyped with business partners using new reporting tools including Snowflake and Tableau.
• Data Governance Roadmap: A high-level approach and resource needs to support the data governance program was documented which resulted in the recommendation of use of a Federated model and aligning with overall IT Governance program.

Pros and Cons of a Federated Governance Structure

Data Governance will be a complement to other governance structures, and most notably, the IT Governance. Obtaining long-term adoption of data governance (and the associated benefits) will be best achieved by incorporating data governance-defined activities into IT Governance project execution and post-delivery support.

• Data Governance defines the data and provides context to how it is created, managed and used.
• Data and IT Governance work together to provide the right data, at the right time, with the right controls.
• IT Governance manages the technology and configuration to support creation and maintenance of data.

Looking Forward

Senior management will prioritize options within the roadmap to determine when to launch initiatives that will continue to drive WVU’s Data Management and Governance program forward.