1.0: Policy and Background
Policy: Information maintained by the institution is a vital asset that will be available to all employees who have a legitimate need for it, consistent with the institution's responsibility to preserve and protect such information by all appropriate means.
Background: The institution is the owner of all administrative data; individual units or departments may have stewardship responsibilities for portions of that data. The institution intends that the volume of freely accessible data be as great as possible, given limitations of budget.
The value of data as an institutional resource is increased through its widespread and appropriate use; its value is diminished through misuse, misinterpretation, unnecessary restrictions to its access, or failure to maintain quality . The institution expressly forbids the use of administrative data for anything but the conduct of institutional business. Employees accessing data must observe requirements for confidentiality and privacy, must comply with protection and control procedures, and must accurately present the data in any use. In addition, the institution and its employees do comply with applicable state and federal laws and regulations, including state standards and guidelines .
The institution determines levels of access to administrative data according to principles drawn from various sources. State and federal law provides clear description of some types of information to which access must be restricted. In an academic community, ethical considerations are another important factor in determining access to administrative data (see Appendix A ).