Instructure and Internet2 Create Data Governance Advisory Council to Address Rising Data Management and Archiving Needs of Higher Education Institutions

Group to recommend data retention, security and governance standards and best practices 

SALT LAKE CITY — May 16, 2024 — Instructure, the leading learning ecosystem, working with Internet2, a member-driven research and education community working to solve technology challenges, today announced the creation of a Data Advisory Council to address the rising data management and archiving needs of higher educational institutions throughout the world. Comprising members from Instructure and Internet2, as well as representatives from various education institutions, the council seeks to recommend consistent data hygiene/governance standards. In addition, the council will work to find solutions to common data-related challenges such as managing huge amounts of data, student data privacy concerns, and security. The council will share findings from its research and provide recommendations for institutions looking to create consistent data governance policies and practices. 

The proliferation of student data has become a common concern for institutions. Many higher education institutions have no formal data governance policy, leaving administrators to determine when and how to archive data no longer in use. This creates performance lag and security issues for institutions, faculty, staff and students using their systems. 

The Data Governance Advisory Council will support the edtech 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 help 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. 

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