Ownership and application

Policy ownership and application

A. Policy Owner
1. This policy is defined and owned by the Arizona Board of Regents (ABOR). ABOR requires each university to designate an institutional Research Data Steward as the responsible party for oversight, implementation, maintenance, and periodic review of the local compliance with this policy.

B. Review Period
1. The Research Data Steward will coordinate a periodic review of the local processes and controls in consultation with other relevant stakeholders at a maximum interval of 3 years. In order to conduct the review, the Research Data Steward is responsible for convening and chairing an advisory group consisting of at least the institutional units/offices ultimately responsible for supporting compliance with this policy.

C. Who Does This Policy Apply To?
1. This policy applies to:
a. Any Researcher overseeing or performing research conducted at or under the auspices of ABOR universities when research data are collected or produced, regardless of the source of funding.
b. Any individual who has been designated as a Research Data Manager under this policy.
c. Any individual who has been designated as a Research Data Steward under this policy.
2. Exceptions:
a. Students are excepted when the research data are collected or produced as part of credit-bearing coursework or internships.

Comments received

the steward monitors compliance, but what about enforcement.  Where does that lie?

Periodic review of this policy is appropriate. Exceptions for student work in credit-bearing coursework is appropriate, but it should include work that satisfies any program requirement. Example: students who take multiple semesters to complete a dissertation often begin their projects in semesters when they are taking dissertation hours (excepted in this draft), but finish it after they have fulfilled their dissertation hours requirement and are taking continuing-registration hours (not clearly covered by this exception), and work on their dissertations in summer, when they do not need to be registered — and summers are not apparently included in this exception. Would the student have the exception in fall and spring semesters when they are taking dissertation hours, but not in summers, or in semesters when they take continuing-registration credits? Please just provide a broader exception tied to either credit-bearing coursework or internships OR other program requirements.

Clarify whether dissertations and thesis are covered under this policy.

Again, this should be in a separate plan and not part of the data retention plan. The actual data retention plan should be only a 1-2 page document. Otherwise, it probably will not be read.

The dfinition of who is covered seems overly broad. For example, are emeritus faculty covered by these policies. Given the overly broad but vague definition of who is coverd, it woudl seem so.