Instructure and Internet2, a research and education community, have formed a Data Advisory Council to address the growing data management and archiving needs of higher education institutions worldwide. The council will recommend consistent data hygiene standards and address challenges like managing large amounts of data, student data privacy concerns, and security. It will share research findings and provide recommendations for consistent data governance policies.
The Data Governance Advisory Council will support the tech industry through research, experiments, and thought leadership. The group will test concepts, approaches, and solutions for data retention related to education. In addition, its members will help shape and evaluate emerging solutions, provide feedback on product strategy, and guide future plans for data governance solutions.
“This is an important area of focus for Instructure, as institutions need clear guidance on how to address the ever-expanding student data in their care,” said Melissa Loble, Chief Academic Officer at Instructure. “By implementing a data-retention strategy aligned with best practices, they can better protect students and improve performance and operational efficiency.”
“In our data-driven world, research and higher education institutions must both protect sensitive information and enable the use of data to advance teaching, enhance learning and the student experience, and accelerate research,” said Sean O’Brien, Associate Vice President for NET+ Cloud Services at Internet2. “A committee focused on these critical issues surrounding data governance is essential for building community-scale solutions with Internet2 industry members like Instructure.”
Penn State University was an early advocate for data governance and standards. After using a Learning Management System (LMS) for several years and thousands of courses, administrators became concerned about the growing data they were responsible for.
The Data Governance Council will create a playbook incorporating research-based advice and best practices for navigating data governance issues. In the meantime, Instructure has created a site with resources for administrators who want to learn more about data governance.
