The purpose of these guidelines is to ensure database integrity and provide easy, professional and cost-effective communications for the College.

Some College offices may have individual guidelines that supplement these but they should not surplant or contradict any of the standards outlined here.

Some of the primary goals for creating these guidelines are to:

• Document a single institutional data entry standard that facilitates searches and provides accurate and consistent reports.
• Avoid creation of duplicate records for any single entity.
• Provide complete and accurate name/address information that meets Postal Services' recommended mailing address setups and procedures.
• Allow data entry in a timely manner with audit trails to monitor data integrity.
• Communicate to all College staff any changes or additions made to the guidelines in response to discoveries found during the conversion of data to Banner or in creating updated processing functions in the new system.

These guidelines were originally drafted in anticipation of the conversion of data into the Banner system. As more people work in the Banner system it is likely that we will find that some guidelines, though they looked good in theory, may not work well in production. Revisions and additions will be made in order to meet the needs of the processes or functions as they are created in different offices on campus. Most important is that the guidelines be followed as written here until a change is identified and agreed upon so that any "fixes" to the data can be applied in a consistent manner.

Any changes or additions to the original guidelines will be noted here for easy reference.

General Guidelines

Name Standards

Sorting Rules

Address Standards

Appendices