A description indicating the date on which a defined set of data is captured and preserved.

Interpretation / Usage Notes:

While institutional data change continuously throughout the year, there are official and unofficial dates for capturing census data, which are static sets of information used in reporting and analysis. Official census descriptions may describe a census term as preliminary or final, describing the two census dates used for most official reporting purposes. Official census dates correspond to NSHE, State and federal reporting requirements, and may be added as additional data marts are defined.

In the case of student enrollment data, ‘Preliminary’ describes data captured three weeks into the semester; ‘Final’ describes data captured after grades are posted at the end of the semester.

An ‘Unoffical’ census description indicates the data captured are not used for official reporting purposes.

Potential Values:

Examples include:
Fall 2010 Preliminary Unofficial
Spring 2011 Final Official
Unofficial Census

Source Description: