Purpose of this Data Governance Team:

  • Increase Collaboration
    • Going forward, each member of this should email this Data Governance team (datagov@blueridge.edu) whenever their department is implementing a change to the way they input or process critical data elements in Colleague and related administrative systems.
    • For example, if one group receives a NCCCS memo that directs that group to change some data coding value (such as instruction delivery method), please relay that information to this group to ensure everyone is aware.
    • It is better to 'over communicate' rather than keep such changes 'siloed' within a single department or division.
  • Ensure Data Quality and Consistency: 
    • Through communication and collaboration, this team will help ensure that the data collected and used by the college is accurate, consistent and compliant 
  • Coordinate State Reporting
    • Please communicate to this group any changes or issues that could or have affected data that is being sent to NCCCS.
    • If you receive a notification from NCCCS regarding a data reporting issue, please consider relaying that to this team as those issues might have a broader impact.

Individual Roles Represented On this Team:

  • Data Coordinator (Dr. Harrell)
    • Dr. Jessica Harrell is the College's official "Data Coordinator".
    • In this role, Dr. Harrell ensures groups on campus are aware of upcoming data reporting requirements.
    • Dr. Harrell is not an expert on all data elements that we send to the state.
  • Data Owners (Dr. Leatherwood, Division VP's)
    • Per policy 8.4, the College President is considered the data owner.
    • Each Division VP has been delegated data ownership rights for all data that relates to their respective area.
    • Data owners and their designees are considered the subject matter experts on their respective data
  • System Administrators (Steve Young, James Simmons, Jimmy Stamey (Ferrilli)
    • The CIO and IT staff are responsible for the operation and security of the data systems.
    • IT staff are NOT authorized to make changes to data without explicit written authorization from data owners


Key Takeaways:

  • Notify this group if:
    • You are changing the way you enter data into Colleague or other administrative systems
    • Have been informed of a data reporting issue
    • Received a memo directing a change in data entry
  • IT staff will continue to notify this group of any system changes such as Colleague patches that could have an affect on data. 


In larger organizations, "Data Governance" is a highly formalized process as outlined in this DoE document. Although a major reason for this rebranding is indeed to take steps to better formalize our data management, we are not planning on implementing a full scale "Data Governance" regime at this time.