About the Research Data Stewardship Initiative
As a public research university, U-M has a responsibility to equitably and securely expand the accessibility and transparency of our research data. In addition, funding agencies, publishers, and others have been increasingly requiring or incentivizing making research data publicly available. These mandates follow a general trend of more open scholarship within the research community, including making data more available to allow to replicate or reproduce the research, or to reuse the data that was generated for new research.
The challenges associated with new processes and practices have prompted the release of a number of recent reports and recommendations, including the AAU-APLU Public Access Working Group report, the NASEM/Open Research Funders Group Draft Open Science Toolkit, and the preliminary NIST Research Data Framework. Additionally, the NIH is implementing a new Policy for Data Management and Sharing in January 2023, and other agencies are expected to follow suit.
To address the need for broad, institution-wide communication, education and coordination related to these changes, the Office of the Vice President for Research (OVPR) launched the Research Data Stewardship Initiative (RDSI).
The RSDI is led by the Office of the Vice President for Research, in partnership with many other data support units across the university. The working and faculty advisory groups, membership information below, are crucial to the initiative’s success.
Faculty Advisory Group
| Name | Title |
| Jeff Fessler | William L. Root Collegiate Professor, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Professor, Radiology Professor, Biomedical Engineering |
| Jinseok Kim | Research Assistant Professor, Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research Research Assistant Professor, Information and Adjunct Lecturer in Information, School of Information |
| Margaret C. Levenstein | Director, Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research Executive Director, Michigan Federal Statistical Research Data Center; Research Professor, Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research; Adjunct Professor of Business Economics and Public Policy, Ross School of Business |
| Hernan Lopez-Fernandez | Associate Chair for Collections, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Museums Associate Professor Associate Curator of Fishes |
| Arthur Lupia | Research Professor, Center for Political Studies Gerald R Ford Distinguished University Professor |
| Robert J. Ploutz-Snyder | Research Professor Assistant Dean of Research and Scholarship Director, Applied Biostatistics Laboratory |
| Ricky Punzalan | Associate Professor of Information |
| Laura Scott | Research Professor of Biostatistics |
Working Group
| Name | Title | Unit |
| Mashon Allen | Chief of Staff, VPIT-CIO | Information and Technology Services |
| Drew Bennett | Director of Software and Content Licensing | Innovation Partnerships |
| Rick Brandon | Associate General Counsel | Office of the Vice President & General Counsel |
| Joanna Thielen | Senior Associate Librarian, Library Health Sciences | University Library |
| Erin Kaleba | Director, Data Office for Clinical and Translational Research | Medical School, Office of Research |
| Kelsey Keeves | Communications Manager | Office of the Vice President for Research |
| Jess Peirson | Associate Director | Research Integrity |
| Sara Samuel | Informationist | Taubman Health Sciences Library |
| Diane Lehman Wilson | Administrative Manager | Medical School Regulatory Affairs |
| Shandra White | Assistant Vice President for Research – Sponsored Projects | Office of Research and Sponsored Projects |
Have Questions?
Want Updates?
The RDSI Community of Practice is an open MCommunity group available to all U-M staff and faculty with questions on their work as it relates to research data management.