From Assessment to Action: Build a Data Governance Program People Actually Adopt

A scored assessment tells you where you stand. A roadmap tells you where to go. Neither one gets you there. This course does — because a roadmap doesn't move on its own. It moves when people commit to the harder work: communicating and actually changing.

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Waitlist now open · Course begins January 2027

Note: Joining the waitlist means you'll hear from me when enrollment opens.

Why this course?

You already know your institution's data practices need work. You may even have an assessment sitting in a drawer somewhere, or a roadmap nobody's touched since the kickoff meeting.

That's the gap this course closes. Getting people to move because they want to, not because someone said so.

Who is this course for?

  • Data governance leads, CDOs, and IT/IR directors who already have some of the documents and can't figure out why nothing's happening

  • Teams who've had a plan stall because no one was responsible for getting people on board

  • Institutions where governance work crosses silos with no single reporting line— still the reality for most, even with a centralized DG role in place

What You’ll Walk Away With

This isn't a bolt-on module. SCALE runs through the four pillars, where the work is fundamentally about persuading people, not just documenting rules:

  • A scored readiness assessment — where your institution stands, not where you assume it stands.

  • 5 hours of self-paced video covering all five governance pillars, with SCALE (Sponsor, Convene, Align, Learn, Evaluate) woven throughout — the change-management and communication thread most programs skip entirely.

  • 3 live sessions to work through real scenarios with Melissa and your cohort.

  • A 12-month roadmap deliverable — built around your results, not a template with your logo on it.

What is SCALE?

Five pieces, each doing real work:

Sponsor — backing that isn't checked on quietly disappears

Convene — every unit's concerns at the table, not a one-size-fits-all announcement

Align — the team and their communities know what's actually in it for them

Learn — real, ongoing capability building, not a kickoff session everyone forgets by Friday

Evaluate — metrics reported up in language your leadership already acts on

Where SCALE Shows Up in the Course

Leadership & Sponsorship

Sponsorship that isn't checked on quietly disappears. You'll leave knowing how to secure it and keep it.

Data Quality & Definitions

There's no compliance clock forcing a definition into existence. That means getting one written is entirely about persuading people it's worth doing now, not later. You'll leave with real answers for those who don't want them.

Stewardship & Accountability

Many institutions already have a stewardship council that meets. What stalls is what happens between meetings. You'll build the alignment work that keeps things moving instead of sitting.

Technology & Access

This pillar looks technical, but the real work is organizational — agreeing on the authoritative system, building trust in the reports pulled from it, and getting a real integration plan people commit to. You'll leave knowing how to drive that agreement forward.

Policy & Standards (the fifth pillar) are the exception. Policy exists because compliance requires it, and standards like data classification ride on that same risk-driven urgency. Everywhere else on this page, getting people on board is the actual job.

How It Works — Once Enrollment Opens in December

  1. Enroll— secure your seat

  2. Assess— score your institution's governance readiness before the course starts

  3. Learn the 5 pillars of data governance— 5 hours of self-paced video, at your own pace

  4. Learn SCALE— the piece most roadmaps leave out. Buy-in you don't have to keep chasing after the kickoff.

  5. Apply it live— 3 sessions to workshop your specific challenges with your cohort

  6. Leave with a plan people will use— a 12-month roadmap, built to hold up past the kickoff meeting

Individual Seat — $620

For one person to complete the course, assessment, and roadmap.

Pricing

Team Seat — $1,595*

For a cross-functional team of 3 from the same institution — recommended when governance work needs buy-in across departments, which is most of the time.

*(Save ~16% vs. 3 individual seats)

Card payment by default. Institutions needing to pay by invoice or PO — contact Melissa directly.

About Your Instructor

Melissa Barnett's first stage wasn't a lecture hall — it was an actual stage. Years singing arias and classical music taught her something she'd later apply to data: information doesn't move people. Communication does. It's why she named her company Limelight.

She built her whole career on that same idea:

  • Evaluation researcher at Harvard and MIT, turning institutional data into evidence leaders acted on

  • Launched DataTalks at MIT's Teaching and Learning Lab, building staff confidence interpreting and acting on data

  • Built data governance programs at Georgia State (inaugural Data Governance Manager) and Harvard (Director of Data Strategy & Governance)

  • One of two presenters selected for a pre-conference training at HEDW 2026

  • Co-facilitating EDUCAUSE's first-ever Learning Lab on designing data literacy programs, this December

Ph.D. in Sociology · CDMP · Prosci Change Management Practitioner

Limelight DataWorks was founded in 2025 to bring it all — practitioner-built, communication-first — to institutions that need more than a policy document.

What Past Learners Have Said

“[Melissa] is very insightful and really helped create an understanding of Data Governance”
— EDUCAUSE Learning Lab Participant
“I can’t pick just one. I am walking away with sooo many tools for my tool belt. This pre conference workshop was AMAZING!!!”
— HEDW Data Literacy Pre-Conference Participant
“[My favorite part was] [e]ngagement and open discussion, especially slowing down for something that not everyone may be familiar with across disciplines/departments/roles.”
— Customized Data Governance Training Participant for a Client

FAQs

  • Course content for the first live session unlocks January 5, 2027, with the first live session on January 15.

  • Both — 5 hours of self-paced video plus 3 live sessions with your cohort.

  • Yes — this cohort is capped at 25 participants to keep the live sessions genuinely interactive. Once we're full, remaining registrants will be offered a spot on the waitlist for the next cohort.

  • You'll get the recording automatically — no need to ask. Plus, one written follow-up question you can submit within 48 hours of that session, which gets a real answer, not a form letter.

  • Yes — see the Team Seat option above in the Pricing section.

  • This gives you the framework, SCALE, and a roadmap at a fraction of the cost and time of a full consulting engagement. A strong place to start — with the option to go deeper into a full engagement if you need it.

  • Quick clarifying questions are always welcome by email. Your DG journey doesn't stop when the course does. For real support as you keep working on your roadmap, book a Roadmap Check-In — one focused session, billed separately from the course, no package required.

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