Data collected by staff in various departments is an institutional resource, not just departmental. Therefore, we will strive to:

1. capture that data at the point of best opportunity,
2. record it in ways that make it useful for other departments, and
3. share it across departmental boundaries, except where prohibited by law or prudence. In cases where there are possible legal limits on data sharing, we will investigate the requirements thoroughly to establish what the law actually allows.

The Information Services staff is anxious to work with BVU departments to improve data management practices and to bring the knowledge of all our information tools to their work and into the process of enhancing service. Please contact us if we may be of any assistance.

ADDENDUM

General Rules of Thumb About Data-related Procedures

1. Never re-key data that exists in a computer. Doing so introduces the possibility of data entry error and impedes the flow of information. The flip side of this general rule is:
2. Never create/continue a process that asks other members of the community to re-key data that is already in a BVU computer/database. Such processes should be redesigned to eliminate the redundant data entry.
3. Part of capturing data in a way useful to others is, whenever possible, to capture it into a shared database, not a document or spreadsheet.
4. Never store data only on paper. Paper = Silo. Silo = Bad.
5. We have the POISE information system. We pay a lot of money for it. Use it and leverage it for every possible business process. We can do almost anything with POISE. Just ask!

Authored by Ken Clipperton, Managing Director of University Information Services