Issue/Question
- I’m presenting at a professional conference and would like to share data from a CORE report. Can I do this?
- What are the guidelines and rules around sharing OSU data?
Environment
- Oregon State University
- CORE
Explanation
Data can be a powerful way to share the work we are doing at OSU with the public and external organizations. The sharing of OSU operational data must comply with federal and state regulations (FERPA, HEA, HIPPA, etc.) though. OSU operational data on foreign nationals may also be regulated by laws in their home country such as the EU GDPR. Your use of OSU operational data may also be constrained by other ethical and legal requirements you must comply with.
OSU operational data is any data that is collected by OSU to run its day to day operations. This includes student data (grades, academic standing, etc.), employee data (position, performance reviews, etc.), financial data (transactions, vendors, etc.) and other specialized data collected by OSU.
We would encourage you to reach out to us if you are ever unsure if your use of OSU operational data complies with data regulations. We can help you have a conversation with the OSU data stewards about your needs. You are responsible for understanding the legal and ethical requirements you and OSU are operating under and making sure you are following these regulations.
Resolution
For sharing with a group external to OSU
If you want to present OSU data outside of OSU, it needs to be presented in aggregate and follow the Rule of 10. The Rule of 10 is that data is only considered aggregated if it has 10 or more members in the set you are presenting (N>=10). If an aggregation has less than 10 members then it may not be shared outside of OSU.
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Note: Certain regulations do allow for the release of limited data without it being aggregated. An example of this is directory information under FERPA. These exceptions are usually very narrow and often do not apply to data people want to share outside of OSU.
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For use in academic research
If you are interested in using OSU operational data as part of academic research that needs to go through the Institutional Review Board. As part of the IRB process you will work with the appropriate data stewards and custodians to define the data you need pulled. This will ensure your research meets the ethical requirements for research with human participants and complies with the data regulations OSU is under.
Assistance
For assistance, Contact IAR.