Roles & Responsibilities

Lehigh University is the owner of all university data. The University has granted policy and operational level responsibility for subsets of University data through data stewardship, which consists of Data Stewards, Data Managers, and Data Users.

Effective October 2025, the Data Governance Executive Sponsors are Nathan Urban, Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, and Christine E. Cook, Vice President for Finance and Administration.

The Executive Sponsors are responsible for providing strategic oversight and setting the direction for the Data Governance Program. They provide the strategic authority necessary for the program’s success. The role involves the following responsibilities:

• Ensure the Data Governance Program remains aligned with the institution’s overall mission and strategic plan.
• Endorse key data governance policies to give them institutional authority.
• Ensure the availability of appropriate resources (i.e. funding, staffing, and technology) are allocated to sustain the program’s operations and projects.
• Actively champion the program and promote a data-informed culture across the institution, helping to remove resistance and institutional barriers.
• Empower the Data Governance Executive Committee and Data Governance & Standards Committee to execute their decision-making authority effectively.

Data Stewards are designated University administrators whose positions have planning and policy-level responsibilities for data in their subdomain. Data Stewards are formally appointed by the Executive Sponsors, in consultation with the Co-Chairs of the Data Governance Executive Committee. Appointments are made for specific data subdomains to ensure appropriate executive oversight and institutional alignment.

Data Stewards are selected based on the position they hold within the university’s organizational structure and their ability to represent and communicate the interests of their assigned data domain. Data Steward designations are documented and reviewed periodically to ensure continued effectiveness, appropriate representation, and continuity.

Responsibilities:

1. Serve as a member of the Data Governance & Standards Committee (DGSC) providing university-level knowledge for their subdomain. This includes working in collaboration with other areas to ensure data integrity throughout university systems.
2. Maintain overall responsibility for the operational and administrative management of systems and data in their subdomain, including the intake, storage, retention, processing, and transmission of data to internal and external systems. This responsibility extends throughout the data lifecycle, including the creation, retention, archival, and disposal of data, ensuring compliance with institutional policy and external regulations. The Data Steward is responsible for data quality within their subdomain and coordinating the resolution of data issues that arise across subdomains. They may delegate certain data quality responsibilities to others, including the execution of routine data checks, monitoring, and documentation activities.
3. Interpret and implement state and federal policies and guidelines that affect data subsets within their subdomain.
4. Identify the data classification (critical, restricted, institutional/proprietary, public) for each data element within the data subsets managed by their reporting units, ensuring appropriate data security and privacy protections.
5. Promote the development and maintenance of data definitions in collaboration with Data Managers within their data subdomain. Facilitate resolution of definition issues involving data elements across multiple subdomains.
6. Oversee data access within their subdomain and be accountable for completing regular reviews of security classes to maintain appropriate access to data in their data subdomain. This includes collaboration with Data Managers on the following responsibilities:
           a. establish authorization and justification procedures to facilitate appropriate data access as defined by campus data policy and ensure data security for data within their subdomain.
           b. determine the type of access granted to University users for the data subsets within their data subdomain.
           c. complete quarterly access reviews (audits) of data systems to: (1) confirm that security classes include the appropriate administrative functions, and (2) verify that users have the correct roles and security class assignments within the Data Steward’s data subdomain.

Data Stewards may delegate responsibilities to their Data Manager(s) where appropriate; however, consultation with the Data Governance Officer is required to approve the designation of all Data Managers.

Data Managers are University staff who have operational-level responsibility (collection, maintenance and dissemination) and subject matter expertise for data in their subdomain. Data Managers are recommended by the Data Governance officer for appointment and are appointed by the Data Steward. All responsibilities performed by Data Managers remain under the ultimate accountability of Data Steward.

Responsibilities:

1. Review and approve requests for access by other University users to their data subdomain, as defined by campus data policy.
2. Provide data definitions for each data element for which responsibility is assumed.
3. Provide guidance and assistance in the appropriate interpretation of their data subdomain. Working with the Data Steward, ensure that training and documentation is available for data entry staff.
4. Carry out additional responsibilities delegated by the Data Steward in their subdomain.

Data Users are individuals who have been granted access to institutional data in order to perform assigned duties or in fulfillment of assigned roles or functions within the University. Data Users share responsibility in helping Data Stewards and Data Managers protect and manage data by making efforts to understand the source, meaning, and proper use of data. This includes respecting the privacy of individuals whose records they may access.

The Data Governance Officer leads Lehigh’s Data Governance Program to help drive and implement data governance and stewardship capabilities and processes across the university. 

Responsibilities:

1. Directs university-wide data governance activities, ensuring efforts are aligned, standardized, and effective across the institution.
2. Empowers and supports the stewardship community and governance committees by providing the administrative framework, training, and guidance necessary to execute their roles and facilitate cross-functional projects. 
3. Manages the creation and maintenance of institutional data definitions, standards, and policy directives to ensure consistency across all data domains.