Third in the “Tools for Data Governance” series.
In the first two posts in this series, we explored data dictionaries – what they are and how they’re used in practice. Data dictionaries provide the technical backbone of data governance, detailing where data lives, what it looks like, and how it behaves.
But technical definitions alone aren’t enough. For many people across a university – from admissions and registry teams to senior management – the real challenge lies in understanding what data means in business terms. That’s where a business glossary comes in.
What Is a Business Glossary?
A business glossary is a collection of clearly defined business terms used across an organisation. It explains what a term means in everyday language rather than how it’s stored or coded in a database.
For example:
- Full-Time Equivalent (FTE): A measure of workload that combines part-time and full-time students into a standardised figure.
- Continuing Student: A student who remains enrolled in a subsequent academic year without interruption.
- Withdrawn Student: A student who has formally left their programme before completion.
While a data dictionary might record that FTE_Value is stored as a decimal in a specific table, the business glossary captures the human-friendly definition — the version that stakeholders use in discussions, reports, and policies.
Why It Matters
Without a shared glossary, even simple terms can lead to misunderstanding. One faculty’s “Active Student” may exclude those on study leave; another’s may include them. These subtle differences can cause confusion in dashboards, data returns, and committee papers.
A business glossary creates shared meaning. It provides a single reference point that clarifies terms before reports are built or decisions are made. In higher education, where terminology feeds into compliance reporting, benchmarking, and funding calculations, these distinctions matter.
Key Benefits
1. Consistency Across Reports and Systems
A business glossary ensures everyone uses terms in the same way. Whether it’s enrolment, progression, or retention, each is defined once and used consistently across systems and teams. This reduces discrepancies between reports and supports transparency during audits or external reviews.
2. Improved Communication Between Technical and Business Teams
Glossaries act as a translator between technical metadata and everyday business language. Data teams can map business terms to their corresponding technical fields in the data dictionary, helping both sides understand each other. This alignment is crucial when designing new reports or responding to data-related queries.
3. Enhanced Data Literacy
For many staff, a business glossary is an entry point into data literacy. It makes data concepts more approachable and supports training by introducing shared terminology. When staff know exactly what “headcount”, “offer rate”, or “attrition” mean, they are more confident using data in their work.
4. Stronger Data Governance
A business glossary provides a structure for data ownership and stewardship. Each term can have an assigned owner, steward, and approval status, creating accountability and supporting governance workflows. Institutions can embed review cycles to keep definitions current and ensure changes are agreed collectively rather than informally.
5. Easier External Alignment
Universities often need to align internal terms with external definitions – for instance, those used by HESA, OfS, UCAS, or the ONS. Linking these references within a business glossary helps maintain compliance and traceability when submitting statutory returns or producing sector comparisons.
How It Relates to the Data Dictionary
If the data dictionary describes where and how data exists, the business glossary describes what it means and how it should be used. Together, they form the foundation of a healthy data governance ecosystem.
For example:
- The business glossary defines “Enrolment” as “the formal process by which a student registers and is confirmed as active on a course”.
- The data dictionary lists the specific fields in the student information system that record that event (e.g.
Enrollment_Date,Status_Code,Student_ID). - The two are linked so users can see both the human definition and the technical source in one view.
This linkage allows business users to understand the context of their data, while technical teams can ensure the right fields are used to represent agreed definitions.
Building and Maintaining a Business Glossary
Creating a glossary doesn’t have to start with expensive software. Many universities begin with a simple spreadsheet or SharePoint list, later integrating it into a data catalog platform.
To build one effectively:
- Start small. Focus on a high-impact area such as student records or HESA metrics.
- Engage stakeholders. Include both technical and business users in defining and approving terms.
- Define ownership. Assign a responsible data steward for each term to keep it maintained.
- Integrate gradually. Link glossary terms to your data dictionary and reports as the system matures.
- Keep it visible. Publish the glossary on an internal data portal or intranet to encourage adoption.
The goal isn’t to produce hundreds of definitions overnight but to create a living reference that grows and improves over time.
The Takeaway
A business glossary transforms scattered terminology into a shared organisational language. It bridges the gap between systems and people, helping everyone, from database developers to deans, interpret data in the same way.
Together with the data dictionary, it forms the foundation of a transparent, trustworthy data environment where definitions are clear, ownership is known, and decisions are based on a common understanding.
Coming Up Next
In the next post in the Data Governance Tools series, we’ll look at data catalogues — the enterprise platforms that bring together data dictionaries, business glossaries, and metadata management into one searchable, governed environment.