Whether you are a student, faculty, or staff member, it is important to think about your data - where it lives, what format it is in, how safe and secure is it, who else has access to it, and how long it should be accessible.

Resources

Wake Forest provides multiple resources for creating, managing, sharing, and storing your data using your WFU account. The File Storage Comparison Matrix highlights many of the features of several of our data management tools. There are important things to keep in mind associated with each resource, such as how much storage is available, what kind of data can be stored, and what happens to that data when you leave the University. The University is continuing work to develop a policy around data preservation for campus. Stay tuned! 

Here is a general overview of the resources available. Click on an option to view the detailed service page for download information and more.

Adobe

Adobe Creative Cloud gives you access to a collection of software for graphic design, video editing, web development, photography, and cloud services. Users have 100GB of cloud storage with more available upon request. Adobe provides the ability to migrate your data and your Adobe creations from your WFU account to a personal account when you leave the university.  

Canvas

Canvas is our supported Learning Management System (LMS). You can export your Canvas content from your WFU-affiliated account to a personal account when you graduate or leave the university as you lose access upon departure. It’s important to note that Faculty do retain student submissions even when a student is no longer with the university. 

Dropbox

Dropbox is a platform for file storage and collaboration. Dropbox provides security for your intellectual property, internal and external collaboration, and easy access to files while working remotely or traveling. Users have 100GB of cloud storage with more available upon request. Faculty, staff, and students can transfer ownership of a Dropbox folder to another person with a Dropbox account. Students can also transfer data from their WFU account to a personal account upon graduating or leaving the university. 

Google

As a Google Workspace campus, you have access to a number of Google apps, including Drive, Classroom, and Sites, for collaboration and storage, as well as unlimited storage. As a best practice for data preservation, use a Google Shared Drive where teams can easily store, archive, search, and access their files anywhere, from any device. Unlike files in My Drive, files in Shared Drives belong to the team instead of an individual. You can transfer ownership of documents/resources to others within the WFU community.  

Kaltura

Kaltura is an enterprise-level, cloud-based media management platform for storing, publishing, and streaming videos, video collections, and other rich media such as audio recordings and images via your computer or mobile device. Kaltura has an unlimited storage capacity so it the recommended system for campus to store and share video content. 

OneDrive

OneDrive is a platform for file storage and collaboration. OneDrive provides security for your intellectual property, internal and external collaboration, and easy access to files while working remotely or traveling. OneDrive offers unlimited cloud storage and allows you to share your files with internal and external users.

WakeSites

WakeSites provides the tools to build dynamic websites using web platforms such as WordPress, Omeka, and Scalar. You are able to take your domain and hosting with you when you graduate or leave the university using Reclaim Hosting. 

Storage for Sensitive Data 

When dealing with sensitive data, such as HIPAA, FERPA, Personal Health Information (PHI), Personal Identifiable Information (PII), WFU Internal Resources, and other sensitive file types, it is critical to use a tool that safely and securely stores data while also providing the ability to set security and sharing permissions for the data. Although WFU's Dropbox, Google Drive, and OneDrive accounts support the storage of sensitive data types as referenced above, Google Shared Drive is the recommended solution to easily store, archive, search, and access files anywhere, from any device because the data belongs to the team, not an individual. Keep in mind that permissions can be set at the file level as well as the folder level.

Request a consultation!

If you are a faculty member looking for more guidance on data best practices for your research or scholarly work, contact the Digital Initiatives and Scholarly Communication (DISC) team to request a data curation consultation. They have also created this helpful Guide to Managing & Preserving Research Data to get you started. 

If you are a faculty member interested in learning more about data best practices for class projects, or a student participating in a class project, you can reach out to the Academic Technology Team or the Digital Initiatives and Scholarly Communication (DISC) team to request a consultation. 

If you are looking for guidance on data preservation or securely storing your data, please reach out to Information Security at infosec@wfu.edu.