EDUCAUSE - Core Data Survey

Left Quotation Mark EDUCAUSE has made the Core Data Service Survey extremely easy to update year over year. I have found the CDS database service and the annual reports to be invaluable from the managerial perspective when exploring technology and resource options for my university. Right Quotation Mark

—Eileen D. Heveron, Ph.D.,
Associate Vice President, Information Technology
National University

Core Data Service

This FAQ answers frequently asked questions about the Core Data Service, including both the survey and the reporting functions of the service.

Questions and Answers

1.	Why should I complete the core data survey?
	A primary reason for completing the core data survey is to gain access to the interactive database component of the Core Data Service. Access to this database will be restricted to those campuses that have responded with legitimate data to all questions on the current core data survey and officially submitted the completed survey. Another good reason for completing the survey and encouraging others to do so is that the value of the interactive database service will be enhanced considerably if you and all of your peers participate, enabling you to make the peer comparisons that are most important to your campus. You are already being asked by leaders on your campus for the answers to many of the questions that have been included in the core data survey. Participating in the survey will help you to collect such campus data in an organized fashion and have it at your fingertips as it is called for by your campus leaders. So in addition to providing access for comparison of data from other institutions, the database can become a valuable repository for recording and archiving your own campus data for easy reference and a valuable repository for a system/district office to readily access the data of its member campuses. Because of its nature as an umbrella organization for IT planning, management, and use in higher education, EDUCAUSE is in a unique position to provide a framework that will help to standardize the way IT data are captured and reported, enabling "apples to apples" comparisons for better benchmarking. Your cooperation in participating in the survey and adding to this cogent approach to data collection will encourage and promote the widespread acceptance and use of the instrument and the service, and thus ensure reliable, authoritative, and credible data and enable better planning and management of IT across the higher education industry. Your completion of the survey will also ensure that a significant number of EDUCAUSE members provide data to the association for reporting in aggregate form the data that external industries often seek to understand our industry. EDUCAUSE represents your campus in policy initiatives in Washington, D.C., and around the world and is becoming the spokes-organization for IT in higher education to both government agencies and higher education associations. Having relevant and reliable data about the industry will only help to strengthen the association's positions on your behalf. The greater the participation in the survey, the greater the opportunity for EDUCAUSE to track and report trends in IT in higher education, another way of helping you plan for IT investment on your campus.

2.	How long will it take to complete the survey?
	It is not possible to state precisely how long it will take you to complete the survey, as this will vary from campus to campus, depending on how readily available the data are and how complex your campus IT organization and funding situations are. Some participants have reported that it took under two hours to complete and submit the survey, while others have indicated it took a day or two in person hours. It will take much less time to complete the survey after the first year you participate, that is, your data from the previous year will always be available the next year, so completing the survey annually will be much less onerous once you have invested the time initially.

3.	Who is invited to complete the core data survey?
	All EDUCAUSE member campuses that have an IPEDS unit ID number are invited to complete the core data survey annually through an e-mail message sent to the voting / primary representative at each member campus. (See the rules that apply for institutions that are part of a multi-campus university, state system, or community college district.) Although international EDUCAUSE members do not have an IPEDS unit ID, they nonetheless are eligible to participate in the Core Data Service. Note that non-EDUCAUSE members that are accredited postsecondary educational institutions with a student enrollment and an IPEDS unit ID are also eligible to complete the survey, but they will need to register for a CDS user account and be pre-approved to access the survey. EDUCAUSE also annually invites schools that are not members of EDUCAUSE to participate in the CDS if they are members of entities such as the Consortium of Liberal Arts Colleges, the League for Innovation in the Community College, the Council of Independent Colleges, the California Community Colleges, and so forth. At such nonmember institutions, the invitation is extended to a key EDUCAUSE contact for the campus.

4.	What if my campus is part of a multi-campus or state/district system?
	In the case of an institution with a Carnegie classification of "system," individual member campuses within the system are invited to complete the survey, provided they have a unit ID number from IPEDS. (A multi-campus system with a single unit ID is invited to complete the survey as a single institution.) System or district offices (except those that have a single unit ID number from IPEDS) are not eligible to complete the survey; however, if 40% of the campuses within the system or district complete the survey, EDUCAUSE will authorize the voting / primary representative at the system/district office to access the interactive database service. In cases where the system/district office (or state agency functioning as a system office) is a member but the campuses within the system are not individual members, the non-member campuses are eligible to complete the survey provided an individual has been designated a key representative in the EDUCAUSE database. If a system/district office is not a member of EDUCAUSE, only the individual campuses within the system/district that are members are invited to participate in the survey, although the other non-member campuses may be authorized to do so. The survey questions have been designed to be answered from a campus perspective. If your campus is a member of a multi-campus or statewide system or district, please provide data for your campus only. If a function is performed for your campus at the system level, use the columns provided on various survey questions to indicate that.

5.	How do I authorize others on my campus to access the survey and/or database service?
	Access to the survey (and to the interactive database service once the survey is completed) is provided initially only to the individual on your campus who is designated as the voting / primary representative or key contact in the EDUCAUSE records database. That individual may manage the completion of the survey for your campus or may authorize one or more others to manage or complete the survey, using the authorization system provided by EDUCAUSE for this purpose. (Note: Individuals can only complete the survey for the campus with which they are affiliated.) Assuming you are the initially authorized individual for your campus and you wish to authorize someone else either to be a manager or to simply access the survey or interactive database service, you must have an EDUCAUSE username and password. If you have not already registered for this credential, you may do so on the CDS Web site. Once you have registered and logged into the system, you will see an interface screen that allows you to perform various functions, one of which relates to administration, including the ability to manage user accounts. * If you are initiating an authorization for someone on your campus to access the survey or service, select "Invite Individuals from Your Campus to Participate" and follow the directions. * If you have received an e-mail message notifying you that someone on your campus has tried to access the survey or database service and is requesting authorization, click on "Manage User Accounts" and, if you wish to authorize that person's access, check the appropriate box(es). The following are the Core Data Service roles with accompanying privileges that can be assigned to users on your campus. You may assign an individual more than one role. Manager: An individual with this authorization will be able to manage Core Data Service participation on behalf of your campus, including authorizing others to access the survey and/or to access the interactive database service. This person will receive e-mail requests from EDUCAUSE prompting a decision to authorize or deny access for all individuals on your campus who attempt to access either the survey or the database service. Author: An individual with this authorization will have access to your campus's survey and will be authorized to enter data into that survey. Reviewer: An individual with this authorization will have access to the database service once your campus survey is submitted. Once you have authorized someone in one or more of these categories, that person will be able to log into the system using their EDUCAUSE user account. Even if a person has such an account, without your authorization she or he will not be able to access the survey or the database service. The roles that you authorize for an individual on your campus will be retained from one survey year to the next unless you change the authorization or that individual leaves your campus.

6.	Who can access the interactive database service?
	Upon submission of the survey, access to the interactive database service is authorized for the voting / primary representative or key campus contact who was the initial contact for completing the survey as well as to anyone that person has designated a survey manager. EDUCAUSE will also provide database service access to the voting / primary representative at a multi-campus system or district office after 40% of the campuses within that system or district have submitted surveys. The voting / primary representative, key contact, or designated survey manager may authorize others on their campus to access the service through a system set up by EDUCAUSE for that purpose. Once an individual is provided entry to the interactive database service, she or he must read and "sign off" on an appropriate use agreement before accessing any data. This is to ensure that the service is used for the purposes for which it was designed and that data from the database are not shared with those who are not eligible to access it.