Newsgroups: bit.listserv.dasig
Date:         Thu, 23 Jul 1992 15:48:17 CDT
From:         "Ron Spangler, KUMC" <IRRKS@UKANVM.BITNET>
Subject:      AIR DA SIG

Following is a summary of the Data Administration Special Interest Group
which met at the annual meeting of the Association for Institutional Research.
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      Meeting of the AIR Forum SIG on Data Administration
                   Sunday, May 10, 1992


Seventeen people attended the meeting of the Data Administration SIG
providing interesting discussions and exchanges of information.  A brief
summary of the meeting follows.

1.   The meeting of the CAUSE Constituent Group on Data Administration
     in Los Angeles in December 1991 was reviewed.  The CAUSE group is
     a companion group to the AIR SIG, both started by Dick Sheeder
     from Penn State.  The membership of the DASIG listserv was
     reviewed.  Members of the group discussed the draft Model Data
     Administration Standards Manual prepared by the Data
     Administration Management Association (DAMA).  The group also
     discussed different perspectives toward defining a strategic
     architecture for an entire institution.  At the closure of the
     group, Dick Sheeder announced that as a result of a change in
     jobs at Penn State, he would no longer be able to convene the two
     DA interest groups.  The CAUSE Constituent Group on Data
     Administration will now be convened by Dan Updegrove, University
     of Pennsylvania.  Ron Spangler, University of Kansas Medical
     Center, agreed to convene the AIR Data Administration SIG.  Sue
     Borel continues to oversee the DASIG listserv from Syracuse
     University.

2.   A status report was given regarding the efforts of CAUSE to
     collect and distribute data administration organization charts
     and job descriptions from higher education institutions through
     their Exchange Library.  Photocopies of a recent printed list
     were made available.
     Note:  Since the AIR Forum, CAUSE has now made their member and
     Exchange Library information available through a new service for
     members called SEARCH, through Internet/BITNET.  More information
     can be found on page 19 of the 1992/93 CAUSE Member Guide and
     Exchange Library Directory or by contacting Mike Zastrocky
     (zas@CAUSE.colorado.edu) in the CAUSE office.

3.   The continuing efforts by the Data Administration Management
     Association (DAMA) to develop the Model Data Administration
     Standards Manual were described.  Len Brush at Carnegie Mellon
     serves as a liaison from higher education to DAMA.  It is
     expected that the document will remain in "draft" form for some
     time yet.  Copies of the May 8, 1992 draft will be mailed to
     those who requested them at the SIG.  Any comments on the
     document can be forwarded to Len Brush (lb1z@andrew.cmu.edu).

4.   Membership of the DASIG listserv in May included 264 subscribers
     representing over 140 institutions from around the world,
     including Canada, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Puerto Rico, Singapore,
     and Taiwan.  Beginning in 1992, the DASIG communications were
     also posted on NETNEWS in order to reach a wider audience of
     people who can read the posting without subscribing to the list.
     Those wishing to subscribe were directed to contact Sue Borel at
     Syracuse University (sbborel@suvm).

5.   The group also reviewed the status of data administration efforts
     at each member's institution and the major issues which they are
     facing.  The group had a wide range of experiences represented,
     from those who were beginning to learn about DA to those who had
     formal responsibility for this function.

6.   The SIG concluded with a brief presentation from Gerry
     McLaughlin, Virginia Tech, and Rich Howard, University of
     Arizona.  The AIR Professional Development Services Board has
     begun an effort to develop an AIR Institute consisting of six
     mini-courses, two of which will be in the area of data
     management: 1) data management from an IR perspective, and 2)
     techniques for producing effective reports.  They announced that
     they, along with Jeff Seybert from Johnson County Community
     College, would be holding an open hearing to present and solicit
     ideas on the topics that should be covered.  Since DA is a
     critical part of any definition of Data Management, Gerry and
     Rich distributed note cards and asked SIG members to spend five
     minutes writing down topics which they felt should be covered in
     these two topic areas for the AIR institute.  They also agreed to
     make the information that they collected available to DA SIG
     members.
     Note:  Efforts are continuing to collect and refine topics for
     the Data Management mini-courses.  If anyone has further
     suggestions, please direct them to Gerry McLaughlin,
     irgerry@vtvm1.



Summary submitted by
Ron Spangler, Director                           BITNET: IRRKS@UKANVM
Institutional Research and Planning
University of Kansas Medical Center              Phone:  (913) 588-4870
3901 Rainbow Boulevard
Kansas City, KS  66160-7116
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU