{"id":384,"date":"2025-04-02T10:45:16","date_gmt":"2025-04-02T14:45:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bsu.edu\/irds\/?p=384"},"modified":"2025-05-29T13:28:23","modified_gmt":"2025-05-29T17:28:23","slug":"featured-interview-a-conversation-with-cole-heady-about-ball-state-universitys-data-cookbook","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bsu.edu\/irds\/2025\/04\/02\/featured-interview-a-conversation-with-cole-heady-about-ball-state-universitys-data-cookbook\/","title":{"rendered":"Featured Interview: A Conversation with Cole Heady About Ball State University’s Data Cookbook"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Accessible, accurate, and reliable data are at the heart of data-informed decision-making. At Ball State University, Data Cookbook<\/strong> plays a crucial role in this process, serving as a central hub for data governance and ensuring consistency across institutional analysis and analytics efforts. It allows departments to work from a unified business glossary, improving decision-support and shared understanding. We sat with Cole Heady, the Director of Decision Support, to explore what Data Cookbook does, how it functions, and why it matters to his office and the institution more broadly.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

What is Data Cookbook?<\/h3>\n

Data Cookbook is a centralized data governance\u00a0<\/span>system<\/span> that facilitates conversations regarding<\/span>\u00a0data definitions, specifications, and institutional\u00a0<\/span>policies<\/span>. It provides an organized and shared<\/span> approach to <\/span>overseeing<\/span> data definitions, schemas, and lineage<\/span>, supporting<\/span> accountability, and aligning the data warehouse<\/a><\/span>\u00a0with Ball State<\/span>‘<\/span>s strategic goal 5i, which aims to ensure that:<\/span><\/p>\n

Campus administrators use data analytics and robust management information to provide actionable insight that enhances student success and administrative effectiveness. <\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

“Data Cookbook is the framework in which we talk about our data at the institution. It gives us a common language to have discussions\u00a0about\u00a0<\/span>how we ought to be<\/span>\u00a0dealing with\u00a0<\/span>our data\u00a0<\/span>successfully,”<\/span>\u00a0the director\u00a0<\/span>said<\/span>. An example<\/span> of this is the definition<\/span>\u00a0of\u00a0<\/span>terms like\u00a0<\/span>‘<\/span>retention<\/span>,’<\/span> which may have different meanings from department\u00a0to department<\/span>. Data Cookbook standardizes <\/span>such definitions\u00a0<\/span>so that there<\/span>\u00a0is\u00a0<\/span>clarity and consistency. Below you can see a high-level overview of the app and how many definitions exist (most waiting in the draft stage right now).<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Screenshot of the Data Cookbook App, available here for BSU staff Data Cookbook<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

How Does It Support Institutional Goals?<\/h3>\n

At Ball State, Data Cookbook supports decision<\/span>-making by\u00a0<\/span>having business glossary definitions<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>well-<\/span>defined and readily accessible. Prior to its implementation, important information<\/span>\u00a0about data was\u00a0<\/span>trapped <\/span>in <\/span>the <\/span>minds of\u00a0<\/span>individual power users,\u00a0<\/span>with <\/span>potential\u00a0<\/span>for\u00a0<\/span>information loss when\u00a0<\/span>they <\/span>left the university. Now, with a\u00a0<\/span>formal<\/span>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span>documented<\/span>\u00a0repository, institutional knowledge\u00a0<\/span>is <\/span>captured<\/span>\u00a0and accessible to all<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

“It<\/span>‘<\/span>s like a\u00a0<\/span>cookbook,” <\/span>the director\u00a0<\/span>explained<\/span>. <\/span>“<\/span>Just as a cookbook\u00a0<\/span>has<\/span>\u00a0recipes\u00a0<\/span>handy\u00a0<\/span>for future use, Data Cookbook\u00a0<\/span>has <\/span>data governance processes\u00a0<\/span>documented and\u00a0<\/span>ready to go.”.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Data Flow: From Collection to Use<\/h3>\n

Ball <\/span>State\u00a0<\/span>data governance\u00a0<\/span>begins with the data that is created in various source systems. It is then transported to the data warehouse<\/a> and finally makes its way to dashboard analytics, primarily in Tableau. From there we follow a set of defined steps:<\/span><\/p>\n