What's Your Best Advice?
Help! Should I engage in a departmental turf war over data?
Sometimes, I feel like I am a secret agent on a mission, trying to find the decoder ring so I can access the data. Of course, such a ring doesn’t exist, but you’d think it did by the way folks around here act, all cloaked in secrecy. We have departments within our institution who classify data they collect as "top secret—for their eyes only." We are not talking about the work they do for the government; it’s the data acquired about enrollment, grades and departmental assessments.
I’m supposed to support all departments; however, my hands are tied, leaving me in a continual state of frustration because I can’t access the data I need to make decisions and support the staff.
The advice people give me falls into two camps—1) Let it go. Don’t worry about what you can’t control. Lend support only to those departments who are cooperative. 2) Engage in the turf war for the data.
Can your readers help? Which approach should I take—ignore the situation or develop a reasonable policy and procedure to access and distribute the data?
—Stephanie D, Director of Institutional Research
Summary of Best Advice Received
These are uncertain times. People are more protective and guarded about information than in the past. They’re worried about their jobs, their department and the institution at large. Guerrilla databases (terminology courtesy of Roy Ikenberry) are popping up quickly, blocking a workgroup from retrieving data while the data owners “massage and milk” information supportive of their own special interests.
So how do you get past the data blockage and understand its roots and causes? Resistance to sharing data is born from real human emotions primarily, fear and insecurity. Understanding those emotions is the first step to creating a strategy for obtaining the information you need to do your job.
The next phase may require taking the following actions:
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Get support from the top
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Declare an official source of statistical information (the IR Office)
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Integrate a college-wide information solution
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Create a data steward versus a data owner
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Develop a strategic plan for data retrieval
Readers’ Best Advice
1. Get support from the top
Ideally, getting support for your data quest from the president or provost is best. If that’s not an option, work your way down the administration organizational chart. Be sure and have a champion who recognizes your need for the data.
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Dr. James C. Homan, director of institutional, Henry Ford Community College, recommends getting a commitment from all concerned, stipulating that the data/reports/summaries will only be given to those who ‘need to know’ and that they will use the information to improve the students’ success.
2. Declare an official source of statistical information (the IR Office)
An anonymous, director of institutional research (IR) recommends countering guerrilla databases by declaring the IR office as the official source for statistical information about the institution.
A core focus of the IR office is to ensure statistics or reports generated elsewhere are accessible to the decision-makers at the institution.
3. Integrate a college-wide information solution
As Lenore Benefield, coordinator of the Office of Planning & Institutional Performance for Florida Gulf Coast University, suggests: form a committee comprised of representatives across the institution that routinely fill out reports (annual reports, annual plans, program reviews and accreditation reports).
Homan adds:
“You may need a supporting database to hold data not kept in the student information system along with a commitment that there will be minimal or zero data stores outside of a single data set. Access needs to be controlled and enforced so the information is never breached and support needs to be given to efforts to improve the outcomes.”
4. Create a data steward versus a data owner
Work with the staff and all those involved so they understand the role of a data custodian versus a data owner. Ask the computer support department to explain the differences as well as the various access levels for data.
Read-only access data is generally all that is needed for most kinds of information requests. It is also important to understand that some individuals will require "real-time" numbers, while others want the "best" numbers.
5. Develop a strategic plan for information retrieval data
Neil Vincent, vice president of academic affairs, Delaware Valley College, suggests:
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Ask every department to establish a three-year strategic plan.
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Devote one or two days annually to share forthcoming goals and plans for the coming academic year.
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Create work groups of similar disciplines, which meet and discuss ways to collaborate.
It is also important to put checks and balances in place for safeguarding the data itself. Benefield advises:
“Develop forms that will be signed agreements to keep confidential data confidential. No one should get access to data without signing such a form. (Not just for FERPA).”
After all, a turf war is unnecessary!
Thank you, readers, for your thorough and insightful feedback. This information is helpful for anyone generating reports as a way to comply with federal, state and accrediting bodies. Following this advice makes a departmental turf war unnecessary! When you prevent data blockages with a clear plan for accessing the information required to get your job done, you can get back to the business of improving student outcomes.
