Decision Support by Design: Empower Teams and Increase Data Maturity

Session Abstract: Denison University’s holistic data team combines the expertise of Institutional Research, Data Governance, Reporting, and Data Architecture to provide centralized, comprehensive decision support. This session explains how a cross-divisional “team of teams” centralizes data services to produce functional deliverables (dashboards, validated datasets, shared definitions) while maturing the institutional data ecosystem (policies, processes, culture). Presenters will review Denison’s Data and Decision Support playbook, which includes an operating model, a project-based approach, and a cross-divisional project case study, along with relevant templates and artifacts. Attendees will identify a project that delivers functional outcomes and reusable program assets, map roles for a “team‑of‑teams” model, and start developing their own playbook using provided templates.

Keywords: Decision Support
Institutional Data Maturity
Cross-Divisional Collaboration
Data Governance