OSP Information Team: Targeting Small Errors to Produce Better Big Data

Team members in the Office of Sponsored Programs are
working hard and delving into what some might think of as tedious detail to
ensure that users of their data can take its trustworthiness for granted.

Shenika Knox, Senior Data Analyst on OSP’s Information Team,
knows a thing or two about data integrity.  She just spent months cleaning
up customer tables from Oracle – thousands of records mis-classified and
mis-coded customers dating back to Oracle’s adoption in 2001. 

In Sponsored Programs, these “customers” are their
sponsors:  all of the entities who provide UVA with grants, such as
foundations, government organizations, industries, etc.  Knox found that
many customers had mistakenly been assigned to Sponsored Programs when they
actually belonged to other departments. 

The upshot of having all of these extra customers in the
system was that when the pre-award team set up new grants, they were faced with
a massive, messy drop down list full of duplicates that took a long time to
sort through and choose the correct sponsor.

“There were thousands of customers listed that belonged to
other organizations, and that’s a problem, because it not only makes setting up
PTAO’s difficult for us, but also, there are other University entities who are
pulling this information about sponsors on research grants,” said Knox.

Knox, who has been a member of OSP for 9 years, took on the
task of rectifying the situation.  With the help of teammate Nikita
Mokhariwale, she set out to re-classify the records that didn’t belong, a
process that involved a lot of detective work and close collaboration with UVA
Enterprise Applications.

The cleanup that Knox led eliminates that time-consuming and
frustrating part of the process for her colleagues, but the positive effects
don’t stop there:  customer data can now be shared with confidence across the University.  ResearchNet, School of Medicine Clinical Research Improvement in Systems and Processes, and University Business Intelligence for research initiatives are just a few examples.  

Shenika Knox, Senior Data Analyst and data checking
hero. 

Of her recent project to clean up thousands of mis-coded entries from Oracle, Knox said,

 “The whole time, I knew there was light at the end of
the tunnel, but getting there was a challenge!”

Vonda
Durrer, Senior Director of Electronic Research Administration and lead on the
ResearchUVA project, praised Knox and the Information Team for their work,
noting that the more accurate customer tables also benefit other departments
and units.

“From
Student Financial Services and accounts receivable to the School of Medicine
and the Office of the Vice President for Research, this is data lots of people
want. We’re making sure the data they get is as accurate as possible,” Durrer
said.

Next on the horizon for Knox and the Information Team is assisting with the new data visualization tool in ResearchUVA called JUICE.



“The work we do gives me insight into the business analytics that are behind the University’s effort to pull more research funds in. That’s something I’m proud to be a part of!”