Institutional Definition Initiative

Differing definitions of terms used across The Ohio State University can lead to inconsistencies in data reporting and analysis, making it more challenging for data-informed decisions to be made.

The Ohio State Data Governance team has launched a new initiative to standardize institutional definitions to increase clarity and accuracy in data reporting and analysis. As part of this effort team is facilitating the development of working groups, consisting of subject matter experts and data stewards, from across the university and medical center to create these institutional definitions.

Working in batches of related terms, the team will solicit new working group members for each new category. One batch of terms will be worked on at a time, and each batch will consist of several terms.

Check out the "What is a Business Glossary" explainer video from data catalog provider data.world to learn more.

Definitions that have been finalized are posted on the Approved Institutional Definitions webpage.

 

Process for Posting Definitions

  1. A set of terms is identified. This can happen many ways. We hear from people in work groups, on projects, and from general business operations. If you’re working on a project and there’s confusion over what a term means or how it’s used, reach out to us!
  2. Drafting session is scheduled. Our Zoom drafting sessions are open to the university community. If you have a name.#, you’re welcome to join as we’re interested in diverse perspectives. Even if you’re not an expert on the term, we want your voice!
  3. Drafting session conducted. We encourage participation, but if you want to just listen in, that’s fine too. We’ll create a draft definition that will go out to the community for review.
  4. Qualtrics survey draft. After the drafting session, we create a Qualtrics survey with the draft terms. Again, we welcome diversity in participation and thought. You can provide your feedback anonymously if you wish.
  5. Data Steward feedback. Next, we send the Qualtrics feedback to our data stewards and subject matter experts. The feedback is reviewed, and a final approved definition is created. 
  6. Approved definitions are posted. We post the final definitions to our Approved Institutional Definitions page and add to the data catalog.

 

Future Definition Categories

  • The terms listed below are under consideration as future additions. Contact the Data Governance team if you have terms that need to be defined.
    • Employee
    • Alumni 
    • Donor
    • Visitor

 

Interested in being part of the evolving working groups?

The Data Governance team relies on faculty and staff participation in this project. Please fill out this Qualtrics survey to be notified of upcoming opportunities to develop institutional definitions.