Data Stewardship

Data Owner Lehigh University is the owner of all university data. The University has granted policy and operational level responsibility for subsets of University data through data stewardship, which consists of Data Stewards, Data Managers, and Data Users.

Data Stewards are designated University administrators who have planning and policy-level responsibilities for data in their functional areas. Data Stewards are responsible for recommending policies and establishing procedures and guidelines concerning the accuracy, privacy, and integrity of the data subsets for which they are responsible. Data Stewards may choose to delegate responsibilities to their Data Manager where appropriate. The responsibilities of the Data Stewards are as follows:

1. Overall responsibility for the data subsets managed by their reporting units. In certain cases the same data element could exist in more than one data subset (and stem). For example, social security number is used in the financial, human resources and student systems. In this case, social security number is considered to have more than one steward.
2. Interpret and implement state and federal policies and guidelines that affect data subsets within their functional areas.
3. Identify the data classification (critical, restricted, institutional/proprietary, public) for each data element within the data subsets managed by their reporting units.
4. Approve data definitions within their data subset and resolve definition issues involving data elements which exist in multiple data subsets across stems.
5. Oversight of data access within their area of responsibility and completion of regular reviews of security classes to maintain appropriate access to data in their data domain. This includes:
           a. establishing authorization procedures to facilitate appropriate data access as defined by campus data policy and ensure data security for data within their functional area.
           b. determining the type of access given to University users for the data subsets within their area of responsibility.
           c. completing regular reviews of (1) security classes to verify they contain the appropriate Banner admin pages and (2) verifying that individuals are assigned the appropriate security classes within the Data Steward's data domain.

Data Managers are University staff who have operational-level responsibility (collection, maintenance and dissemination) for data in their functional areas. All tasks listed under Data Managers are ultimately accountable to Data Stewards. The responsibilities of Data Managers are as follows:

1. Review and approve requests for access by other University users to their data subsets, as defined by campus data policy.
2. Provide data definitions for each data element for which responsibility is assumed.
3. Provide guidance and assistance in appropriate interpretation of their data subsets.
4. Carry out additional responsibilities delegated by the Data Steward in their functional area.

Data Users are individuals who have been granted access to institutional data in order to perform assigned duties or in fulfillment of assigned roles or functions within the University. Data Users share responsibility in helping Data Stewards and Data Managers protect and manage data by making efforts to understand the source, meaning, and proper use of data. This includes respecting the privacy of individuals whose records they may access.