Welcome to the North Dakota University System Data Dictionary

The Data Element Dictionary is managed by the North Dakota University System. The Data Elements Dictionary is the required guide to data elements, the corresponding descriptions, and related attributes in NDUS systems. The Data Elements Dictionary needs to be used by institution end users, query writers, NDUS staff, and other stakeholders to assist with ensuring understanding and consistency of data. The project has several objectives:

• Create consistent definitions of all data elements that are transferred between internal applications and from outside organizations including schools, districts and federal agencies.
• Put in place enabling technologies designed to break down information silos and promote system-to-system interoperability.
• Promote an overall application naming convention that is consistent across multiple systems.
• Promote efficient building of reusable software components.
• Provide access to information preventing possible misinterpretations of those data elements and data definitions.
• Allow efficient storage and review of information including approval of data dictionary elements.
• Promote publishing of data and include XML, HTML (web), PDF (for Printing) and RTF (for use in Microsoft Word).
• Assist developers and leadership evaluate data reports and create a findings of source data including the transactional source.
• Provide mappings between federal standards such as IPEDS, CEDS, SLDS and internal Data Elements.

NDUS Policy 1901.5 states:
Every employee who uses data as part of their job (whether entering, extracting, analyzing or reporting) is responsible for the quality of the data and using it as described in the data element dictionary. The campus CE is ultimately responsible to ensure that missing or inaccurate data is minimized, and provide timely correction of data issues. The NDUS CI will provide periodic reports to the campus CE or designate identifying missing or inaccurate data.

The NDUS System Information Technology Services is responsible for managing the Data Element Dictionary, in consultation with the campuses. The data elements include fields (dimensions) used in computer systems and calculations (facts) made with that data from which campus and university system reports are drawn. By standardizing the data going into the systems, and standardizing calculation formulas, reporting will be more reliable and comparable among campuses.

Data Element Dictionary

The dictionary shall include, at a minimum:

• The element name
• Description
• Business practices (where applicable)
• Change history, and
• Owning system
• Identify required and optional data fields

Data Quality and Integrity
Data is an important asset for the entire University System, and is held to support the fundamental instructional, research and public service missions. This procedure is intended to ensure that campus data has a high degree of integrity, and that key data elements can be integrated across electronic systems. Furthermore, certain data fields will be mandated for use to both ensure accurate and consistent reporting, but also as an additional system internal control function. Especially critical to this process is data cleanup and correction prior to the fourth week reporting period.

Ensuring good data quality is essential if the institutions of the North Dakota University System are to:

• Be fully accountable for activities and performance to key stakeholders
• Support effective governance by ensuring robust and timely data is available for strategic planning and decision-making
• Use performance information that is comparable over time to drive service improvement
• Meet statutory responsibilities to publish performance information, and
• Manage risk of misreporting

Data Entry Procedures

Data entry procedures must adhere to the following data quality principles:

• Accuracy
• Data shall be sufficiently accurate to present a fair picture of performance
• The margin of error must be minimized, but balanced against the cost of collection for non-essential designated elements.
• Data is to be captured only once, although it may be used many times
• Validity
• Data shall comply with relevant rules and definitions
• Data shall be consistent to support comparisons over time
• Reported data must be authorized by senior managers
• Reliability
• Data must be based on stable and consistent data collection and analysis processes
• Manual manipulation of data must be kept ta minimum; both campus and system reports should be generated from the data warehouse, whenever possible
• Timeliness
• Data is captured as quickly as possible during or after the activity
• Data shall be available within a reasonable time period
• Relevance
• Data captured is relevant to the user and appropriate to the purpose for which it is used
• Information needs shall be reviewed regularly (no less than annually) to reflect changing needs, laws and/or regulations
• Completeness
• All essential data elements must be included, and missing, incomplete or invalid data are to be minimized.