A Primer on Culture Change: Retaining data in the data warehouse

Presentation Summary

Anja Canfield-Budde, University of Washington

In Spring 2011, the University of Washington recognized that, due to legacy interpretations of retention requirements, the University community could not get the historical data it needed to support effective decision-making. Lack of sufficient historical information in the Enterprise Data Warehouse (EDW) lead to decentralized information systems enabling departments to run their own longitudinal studies and historical analyses. This created inefficiencies that negatively impacted productivity and the quality of reports at all levels of the University. Sound familiar? This talk will show how UW establishes the Enterprise Data Warehouse as the single source of information for strategic decision-making, longitudinal studies, institutional research, and reporting and analysis activities, by centralizing and retaining granular, consecutive and unaltered historical data. Learn how three simple, accepted methods are leading to a new UW Data Management policy that not only provides the needed data, but also minimizes risk. Surveys of peer institutions like yours, a Planning & Budgeting Brief and a formal Risk Assessment were crucial tools in helping the University embrace a culture change of truly historical dimensions.