Data Management Council Recommended Training Statement
Include data management in all application training programs
The goal of this training statement is to state that data management principles need to be taught at every opportunity as a crucial part of any system or application training program. All training programs should provide an understanding of the data as well as the business processes and system operations. To meet that goal, each training program should include:
1. A clear definition of the data
2. Help information so that if an data item needs to be clarified, the user knows how to find that information
3. All the allowed values for an element, and an explanation of what each value represents
4. All security and legal responsibilities associated with each data element.
Our recommendation is that all training programs provide a clear understanding of the data as well as application processes. Staff who enter data into applications need to appreciate that accuracy and quality matter, and the training should help them to achieve these goals.
1. Training should definitely cover the "how to's" of the application in question. Regarding data, this includes understanding the data structure, and the impacts of data entered in one location on another location.
2. When implementing a new application, allow staff members to enter a lot of data. Many questions can be answered and business practices were modified along the way.
3. Establish data custodians for each area. This helps eliminate duplication and creates a sense of ownership for that portion of the data. Establish these custodians prior to training and conduct training based on this.
4. There should be a heavy focus placed on data entry accuracy. Trainees need to know which data go where, how to format it, why it's important, and the ramifications of getting it wrong.
5. Data security considerations need to be clear. For example, a responsibility of everyone with SIS access, given that it allows extensive access to student information, is to protect student's rights of privacy as outlined by FERPA.