Completing phase 1 of the Data Management Program
Today we formally wrap up phase 1 of the Data Management Program. Working closely with Huron and stakeholders across the university, we’ve begun laying the foundation for the program’s future.
The Data Management Program is a multi-phase, multi-year approach to change the way we manage and approach data, analytics, and supporting technologies, while cultivating a data-informed decision-making culture at WSU.
Similar to fundraising campaigns, phase 1 was a “quiet” phase that included building expertise and experience in project management and change management within the project team. Using Huron’s expertise, we started developing strategies for data and analytics governance that will work best for WSU.
We convened the Data and Analytics Governance Council, which is already tackling key data pain points. The council will prioritize and advance progress on data and analytics issues, guide policy updates, drive standardization and usage of institutional metrics, empower proactive and informed strategic decision-making, and provide structure to help us more effectively manage WSU’s data. Keep an eye on our blog for more details soon.
We completed collecting Technology and Application Inventories from 27 areas over the winter, analyzed the results, and shared the report and data with the WSU community. The results are already helping us identify common systems and platforms everyone can use so we can determine a more cost-effective way to contract with technology vendors.
We have strengthened collaborations between the data and technology communities at WSU, laying the groundwork for the development of a more robust data-informed culture for the WSU system.
We look forward to engaging more members of the WSU community in shaping this future. Subscribe to our newsletter to learn more and get involved with the Data Management Program.
About the author
Emily Linroth is Strategic Change Manager and Facilitator for the Office of Strategy, Planning, and Analysis. She leads change management strategy and tactics for unit programs and projects.
She serves as change management lead for the Data Management Program, a system-wide shift in how WSU approaches data and analysis to make data-informed decisions.