Core Data Service

This FAQ addresses common queries about the Core Data Service, including the survey and the service's reporting functions.

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 is restricted to 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 in the core data survey. Participating in the survey will help you collect such data in an organized fashion and have it at your fingertips when your campus leaders request it. So in addition to providing data for institutional comparisons, the database can serve as a valuable, easily referenced repository for your own campus data and may also meet the needs of a system/district office for ready access to the data of its member campuses.   As an umbrella organization for IT in higher education, EDUCAUSE is in a unique position to provide a framework that helps 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 promote the widespread acceptance and use of the service, and thus ensure reliable, authoritative, and credible data as well as better IT planning and management across higher education.   Completing the survey will also ensure that a significant number of EDUCAUSE members provide data for the aggregate reporting external industries often seek to understand higher education IT. EDUCAUSE represents your campus in policy initiatives in Washington, D.C., and around the world. We have become the leading voice on IT in higher education to both government agencies and higher education associations. Having relevant and reliable data about the industry only strengthens the association's work on your behalf.   The greater the participation in the survey, the greater the opportunity for EDUCAUSE to track and report trends in higher education IT, which serves as 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 data availability and your IT organization's complexity and funding situation.   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 staff hours.   It will take much less time to complete the survey after the first year you participate; 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 made the initial time investment.
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 survey annually via an e-mail message to their voting/primary representative. (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 may 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 may complete the survey, but they will need to register for a CDS user account and be preapproved to access the survey.   Each year, EDUCAUSE also 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 institutions, EDUCAUSE extends the invitation to participate 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 with a single unit ID number from IPEDS) are not eligible to complete the survey; however, if 40% of system/district campuses complete the survey, EDUCAUSE will provide the voting/primary representative at the system/district office with access to 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 EDUCAUSE 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 for you to answer 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 after completion of the survey) is provided initially only to the individual on your campus 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 authorize 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 to be a manager or to simply access the survey or interactive 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 and 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 CDS participation on behalf of your campus, including authorizing others to access the survey and/or the interactive 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. Without your authorization, even a campus representative with an EDUCAUSE user account 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 them or the individual leaves your campus.
6.	Who can access the interactive database service?
	Upon submission of the survey, access to the interactive service is authorized for the voting/primary representative or key campus representative who was the initial contact for completing the survey, as well as to anyone that person has previously authorized to access the service.   EDUCAUSE also provides access to the voting/primary representative at a multi-campus system or district office after 40% of system/district campuses have submitted surveys.   The voting/primary representative, key contact, or designated survey manager may authorize other campus representatives to access the service through a system provided for that purpose.   Once an individual has access to the interactive service, she or he must read and agree to the CDS appropriate use policy before accessing any data. This ensures the service is used for its intended purposes and that data from the service are not shared with unauthorized personnel.

©Copyright EDUCAUSE. Data contributed to the Core Data Service by a participating institution remain the property of that institution. Otherwise, the contents of the Core Data Service database, survey, and Web site are the copyrighted property of EDUCAUSE and may not be reproduced, republished, distributed, sold, transferred, downloaded, or modified without the express written permission of EDUCAUSE. EDUCAUSE claims copyright to data captured through the Core Data Service to protect data confidentiality on behalf of contributors, not for commercial gain.