THE USE AND SECURITY OF DATA IN THE HIGHER EDUCATION ENVIRONMENT

In a world that is increasingly global and technologically driven, institutions of higher education are faced with levels of customer scarcity that were not present 20 years ago. In an effort to remain highly competitive, higher education institutions need to make strategic decisions in a timely and efficient manner. The strategic use of data in the decision making process allows institutions to remain competitive in areas of enrollment and planning, as well as finance and administration. All the efforts to obtain competitive advantage may be in vein if the university faces major legal ramifications or suffers other consequences due to security breaches. This manuscript outlines the importance of data collection, as well as knowledge management and knowledge management systems. Next, data utilization for higher education institutions in areas of enrollment, financial aid, and strategic financial planning are addressed. Finally, security and analyzing the safe storage and retrieval of vital data, are considered. Higher education institutions face the same decision making cycles that face corporate America. Higher education is often thought to conduct business functions far differently than non-educationa