Data Stewardship
After reviewing the former stewardship model, benchmarking against peers, and gathering input, UW Data Governance developed an updated approach for data stewardship at the UW. The goals of the approach are to more closely link data stewardship and data governance, encourage collaborative leadership and engagement through data domain councils, avoid siloed decision-making, and provide a supportive community for stewards at all levels.
Data Stewardship Defined
The Data Management Body of Knowledge describes data stewardship as “Accountability and responsibility for data and processes that ensure effective control and use of data assets… to help an organization get value from its data.”
Why Data Stewardship is important
Actively stewarding data creates a cohesive approach across and within data domains to address data issues specific to domains (e.g., policy, quality definition and classification, access, architecture, and analysis). The end result is that the University gets more value from its data while managing cost and risk.
UW’s approach to Data Stewardship
The UW’s approach to stewardship and how it interacts with existing data governance and stakeholder groups is expressed in the following graphic.

UW’s Data Domains
Initially, the UW has established six data domains, each defining data stewards and subject-matter experts. A Spring 2023 survey of data governance-involved stakeholders showed that 98% of respondents found the “launch of a new stewardship model, with six data domain councils to address domain-specific issues” to be extremely valuable or somewhat valuable.
- Academic Domain Lead
See the domain lead's topics and initiatives, leaders, members, and meeting notes
- Advancement Domain Lead
See the domain lead's topics and initiatives, leaders, members, and meeting notes
- Finance Data Domain Lead
See the domain lead's topics and initiatives, leaders, members, and meeting notes
- Human Resources Domain Lead
See the domain lead's topics and initiatives, leaders, members, and meeting notes
- Property and Space Domain Lead
See the domain lead's topics and initiatives, leaders, members, and meeting notes
- Research Domain Lead
See the domain lead's topics and initiatives, leaders, members, and meeting notes
Frequently Asked Questions
UW data stewards at various levels are collaborative leaders accountable and responsible for data and processes within the domain. They meet regularly and anchor the people, process, and technology change needed to address domain-specific issues by eliciting the concerns of others and taking into consideration the needs of the entire UW.
In each domain, data stewards address data issues are specific to their domains, such as…
- planning
- policy
- data definition and classification
- quality
- access
- inventory
- issues response
- communication and training
- architecture
- analysis
There are three main ways that issues reach the data domain:
- Issues are submitted through an intake process
- Data stewards bring issues to the group for consideration and prioritization
- The Data Governance Board asks the domain to address an issue
Each data domain prioritizes its own work, in conversation with the Data Governance Board.
When issues cross domains or impact the University as a whole, the domains escalate those issues to the Data Governance Board, which includes representation of all the data domains.
Data stewards will receive onboarding through their domain, including an overview of UW data governance, data stewardship, and the role of data stewards.
Onboarding videos are available on the Training & Education webpage.