Coordinating Council for Institutional Effectiveness

Meeting called to order on June 10, 2004 at 10:09 a.m. by Chairperson Cathy Sarrazin.

Bergeron, Iva	England, Pam	Sarrazin, Cathy
Bond, Gregg S.	Gilbert, Debra A.	Seybold, Mike
Boudoin, Connie	Griffin, Peggy	Smith, Jeffery
Boutte, Gwen A.	Grouchey, Jim	Smith, Vivian J.
Bridges, Deborah K.	Hunter, Tina	Straub, Marty
Cisneros, Maria E.	Jackson, Diane	Terrell, Judy
Cosey, Arnel	Langlow, Francesca	Wainright, Carolyn
Cowan, Curt	McCammon, Marlise	Lovince, Thomas
Downes, Cynthia F.	Minyard, Debbie C.	Rodriguez, Ronald

� The members were welcomed to the first meeting of the Data Standards & Integrity committee. Thomas Lovince, Executive Director of Information Technology, gave a brief description of the Banner Database system in comparison to the college’s present data storage. It is essential that all modules use agree and use the same terminology.

� A brief description of the data storage process used by Banner was presented. The committee has not seen a live demonstration of the software. Since specific information is currently not available, developing data standards to unfamiliar modules will be a challenge.

� Chairperson Cathy Sarrazin proposed that the committee begin by examining the data standards documented by other schools that are currently using Banner. The committee will modify these guidelines to meet our needs; however, our decisions are not limited to these examples.

� In addition to developing Data Standards, the committee is also charged with examining Data Integrity issues. The codes used must be consistent throughout the system. Information entered into the database must be accurate. It is important to identify our current problems and inconsistencies and build solutions in Banner.

� Several members of Information Technology and participating committee members reported that they have had several meetings to resolve compatibility issues in the current system.

� A folder is available on Docushare to post resource information. The webpage is located on Docushare under Inter-Department Use: Office of Institutional Research: Data Standards/Integrity Committee.

� The committee had grown too large for the committee as a whole to discuss and revise each standard. The committee will divide into sub-committees or “work groups” to examine the assigned data standard. Each group will have a team leader. The team leader will submit their work group’s report to the full committee for final approval.

� Members may volunteer for a work group that is an area of expertise and/or interest. All members are encouraged to share ideas and information with each other.

� All team leaders and the committee chair will sign an endorsement supporting the final data standards and integrity policy.

� Copies of the Banner implementation timetable and a sample of a typical data standard was included in the agenda and reviewed with the membership.

� A question was raised as to who will be responsible to monitor data input and integrity. Thomas Lovince responded that default standards would be set, however forms and data input will be the responsibility of each unit.

� The membership discussed the current conflicts in our report codes, as well as the confusion in department, program and discipline codes. Banner consultants have been vague about Banner’s format. Thomas Lovince pointed out that the first step is to examine the current database and our needs then adapt the technology. The membership would like to see the table structure and a list of field descriptions.

� The committee will need to review the current data tables and codes to identify problems and decide which codes to keep. Members from the department of Information Technology as well as the Chairperson, Cathy Sarrazin Director of Institutional Research emphasized the need to clean up the current database. The new standards should be implemented as they are approved.

� The finance unit will visit Baton Rouge Community College to learn more about their Banner project. Several members expressed an interest in participating in this meeting.