IPAR Data Provision Client Guidelines

Guidelines for Requesting Data from Institutional Research

Note that IPAR will not fulfill the following types of requests without authorization from University Counsel and/or approval from the relevant Data Steward:

• Requests for non-directory data on specific students by employees of ECU or the UNC System Office without a clear, legitimate educational interest.
• Requests for non-directory data on specific students by individuals not affiliated with ECU or the UNC System Office.
• Requests for non-public records data on specific faculty and staff, regardless of affiliation.

1. Have you checked already available data resources for the data you need?
   • Publicly available ECU data resources include the University Dashboard and University Quick Facts. Additional resources such as the IPAR Business Intelligence App are available to ECU faculty and staff (require login credentials).
2. Is the request for student directory information?
   • Data elements considered directory information for students are listed on the webpage of ECU’s Registrar. Please direct your request for this type of data to that office.
3. Is the request for data elements (either in aggregate or for specific faculty, staff, or students) for which records already exist* (such as those listed in NC General Statute 126-23)?
   • Please submit your request to ECU’s Public Records Officer.
4. Is the request for aggregate data not publicly available or for de-identified data? Note that “de-identified data” is defined as data without any elements that, alone or in combination, could be used to identify individuals or small groups of individuals.  IPAR staff will complete the de-identification process before providing data to the requester.  ECU faculty, staff, and students submitting data requests are encouraged to consult with IPAR staff prior to requesting data in order to make sure requested data are available and that all relevant details are part of the request.
   • If you are currently employed by, or under contract with, ECU or the UNC System Office, please complete a data request form.
   • If you are an ECU student, please have a supervising faculty member submit the data request on your behalf. If a student making a data request has no faculty supervisor, the request will be evaluated by both IPAR and the relevant data steward/custodian to determine if data are available and can be provided.
   • If you are not affiliated with ECU or the UNC System Office, please send an e-mail to IPARRESEARCH@ecu.edu providing detail about your request. Your request will be evaluated by both IPAR and the relevant data steward/custodian to determine if data are available and can be provided.
5. Is the request for data on specific students, faculty, or staff at ECU or aggregate data with small cell counts?
   • If you are an employee of ECU or the UNC System Office requesting specific student data, please submit a data request. IPAR, in consultation with the relevant data steward/custodian, will determine if a legitimate educational interest exists for the data request.  Data requests for specific student data from individuals who are not employees of ECU or the UNC System Office will not be fulfilled unless approved by University Counsel and/or relevant data stewards/custodians.
   • Requests for data on specific faculty and staff, regardless of a requester’s affiliation, will not be fulfilled without approval from University Counsel and/or the relevant data steward/custodian.
   • NOTE: If data are for a research project, your request must be approved by both the relevant data steward/custodian and ECU’s Institutional Review Board.  A consultation with IPAR to determine a data plan is required prior to the submission of the request and the IRB proposal.  The data request, when made, will be forwarded by IPAR to the relevant data steward to be approved or denied.  If approved, IPAR will fulfill the request after receiving a copy of the IRB approval.  If you are a graduate student seeking data for a dissertation/thesis, IPAR will request a consultation with you and your faculty investigator to work out a data plan.  The faculty investigator should then submit a data request on your behalf.  If approved by the relevant data steward and by the IRB, data will be provided to the faculty member.

*For more information on what constitutes a public records request, please see ECU’s policy on public records requests available here:  https://www.ecu.edu/prr/01/30/02
*Click here for a printable version.