Case study: Data governance team at Baldwin Wallace

Leading the charge: 12 representatives from all departments at Baldwin Wallace University in Ohio

Phase 1 (three years ago)

The team began with an “amnesty period” in which members showed each other the data they captured and discussed how it could be shared and used. Progress: “Everyone began to see there were all types of efficiencies that could be created by working together and consolidating reports,” says Greg Flanik, chief information officer.


Link to main story: Connecting data silos in higher ed


Phase 2 (complete)

The group classified data and built security protocols. They selected SAP Business Objects to access reports from the various systems in admissions, student services, advancement and other offices.

Progress: “Our new system gets all these systems to communicate,” Flanik says. “We can go in and enter a query and it will extrapolate information from all the systems on campus.”

Phase 3 (ongoing)

The data governance team meets regularly to discuss problems and to develop new procedures and regulations. “Say the admissions office decides to stop collecting Social Security numbers,” Flanik says. “Downstream, that impacts financial aid and could impact advancement.” And each time a new situation gets handled, the team gets stronger, he adds. “When you get people from all the silos playing in the same sandbox together, you start to build a circle of trust around the data.”


Nancy Mann Jackson is an Alabama-based writer and a frequent contributor to UB.

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