In today’s digital age, data plays a crucial role in higher education institutions, driving decision-making, improving student experiences, and enhancing operational efficiency. But what do you do if your data needs to be more cohesive, accurate, and easier to gather from various sources?
To help navigate the complex landscape of data quality management, we’ve compiled the ultimate data quality checklist tailored for the higher education sector.
Data quality checklist for higher education institutions
This checklist serves as a guide to ensure that data is managed effectively, securely, and in compliance with relevant regulations and standards. Ideally, you’ll be able to answer yes to each one of these questions in order to get the most out of your data.
Here is an overview of the higher ed data quality checklist:
- Have you established a data governance framework?
- Is your data truly secure and following privacy laws?
- Do you have regular quality and performance reviews of data?
- Are student success and advising teams getting weekly grade reports from the LMS?
- Do you have visibility into the current status of students by major?
- Can your data identify if students are engaged in non-academic campus life?
- Do you have a unified data management strategy?
1. Have you established a data governance framework?
Your team must establish a robust data governance framework defining data ownership, stewardship roles, and policies. Ideally, you will have training programs to educate staff on data governance best practices.
2. Is your data truly secure and following privacy laws?
It’s crucial to have a clear understanding of who has access to various types of data, including archived information. A confident “yes” to this question means you’re effectively safeguarding private student information. Adhering to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and preparing for potential regulations similar to the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation not only enhances your compliance but also strengthens your institution’s trustworthiness. By proactively managing access to sensitive data, your school sets a benchmark for privacy and security, ensuring that every student’s information remains protected.
3. Do you have regular quality and performance reviews of data?
Your Institutional Research and Reporting/Analytics staff should regularly meet with the institution’s data team to review the quality and performance of the data used for enrollment, retention, and fundraising decision-making by stakeholders.
4. Are student success and advising teams getting weekly grade reports from the LMS?
Receiving weekly grade reports throughout the semester empowers your team with the timely insights needed to proactively support students’ academic journeys. This practice ensures that interventions can be strategically implemented, fostering an environment where every student has the opportunity for success.
5. Do you have visibility into the current status of students by major?
Does your institution have ongoing visibility into the current status of degree-seeking students by major? For example, are your STEM majors on track to graduate on time? This information is invaluable for improving student retention and overall student success.
6. Can your data identify if students are engaged in non-academic campus life?
It’s no secret that students who engage in campus life outside of classes are much more likely to graduate on time. Is your institution leveraging data from campus activities to foster non-academic engagement among students? If not, now is the perfect opportunity to initiate this transformative step.
7. Do you have a unified data management strategy?
Is your team currently navigating the challenge of amalgamating data from diverse sources? This approach can be time-consuming and inefficient. Have there been discussions at your institution about transitioning towards a more integrated data management framework? Adopting a unified strategy not only streamlines processes but also ensures that your solution builds comprehensive reports, enriching your institution’s data quality. If your institution hasn’t considered this type of strategy, it may be time to explore the benefits it can offer.
Enhance your school’s data quality
By following this comprehensive checklist, higher education institutions can ensure that data is managed effectively, securely, and in compliance with relevant regulations and standards. This, in turn, can lead to improved decision-making, enhanced student experiences, and increased operational efficiency across higher education institutions.
If you couldn’t answer yes to each one of these questions in the data quality checklist for higher education, your institution could benefit from improving your data quality and strategy. A better data integration solution like Scaffold DataX might be what your school needs to make these improvements. Schedule a free demo with one of our data integration solution experts to see firsthand if DataX is right for your institution.
