What is institutional data?

Institutional data is defined as "Any information or data that is gathered, analyzed, or published by any department of the University of Akron in support of its mission(s)" according to the ITS Data Access Policy.  The term "institutional data" applies to any information (regardless of form, location, or unit) that satisfies at least one of the following criteria:

  • It is subject to a legal obligation requiring the university to responsibly manage the data;
  • It is substantive and relevant to the planning, managing, operating, documenting, staffing, or auditing of one or more major administrative functions, or multiple organizational units, of the university;
  • It is included in an official university report;
  • It is clinical data or research data; or
  • It is used to derive any data element that meets the above criteria.

Institutional Data does not include documents, records or other data owned by members of the UA community that is for personal use or otherwise unrelated to any business or educational purpose of the University. 

What is Protected Institutional Data?

Protected Institutional Data is defined as "Any information classified as more restricted than Public Use by the Data Owner, or appointed Data Steward(s), according to ITS Data Classification Standards."  Protected Institutional Data is data that falls into one of the following categories: 

  • Internal Use
  • Private
  • Restricted