WGU D494 Task 1 - Data Governance Gaps and Best
Practices Analysis 2026 Update with complete
solutions.
SECTION 1: CORE DEFINITIONS (Questions 1–10)
Q1. What is data?
- Correct Answer: A representation of facts, concepts, or instructions in a
formalized manner suitable for communication, interpretation, or processing by
humans or by automated means .
Q2. What is data governance?
- Correct Answer: A system of decision rights and accountabilities for
information-related processes, executed according to agreed-upon models which
describe who can take what actions .
Q3. What is metadata?
- Correct Answer: Information about data; data that describes other data. It
provides context and meaning to raw data assets.
Q4. What is the primary purpose of a data governance program?
- Correct Answer: To define decision rights and accountabilities for
information-related processes, ensuring data is managed as a strategic asset and is
trusted, secure, and compliant .
1
,Q5. Who is Garth Gehlbach and what is his role at WGU?
- Correct Answer: Garth Gehlbach is the Head of Data Governance at Western
Governors University (WGU), where he leads initiatives to enhance data
transparency and trust .
Q6. What type of data does WGU manage that makes governance uniquely
challenging?
- Correct Answer: As a fully online university, WGU handles enormous
volumes of data for over 140,000 students enrolled across its four colleges:
business, IT, teaching, and nursing. The scale, variety, and sensitivity of this data
create significant governance challenges .
Q7. What is data provenance?
- Correct Answer: The origin and history of data, including how it was created
and transformed .
Q8. What is reference data?
- Correct Answer: A set of permissible values used to classify or categorize
other data, such as country codes and currency codes .
Q9. What is a data catalog?
- Correct Answer: A centralized repository that stores and organizes metadata,
making it searchable and accessible to users .
Q10. What is data lineage?
2
, - Correct Answer: The origin and history of data, including how it was created
and transformed; similar to data provenance .
SECTION 2: DATA GOVERNANCE GAPS AT WGU (Questions 11–25)
Q11. In the context of WGU's challenges, what does "lack of visibility into data"
mean?
- Correct Answer: It means the organization did not have a clear,
comprehensive understanding of its data landscape. This includes not knowing
what data existed, where it was stored, who was responsible for it (ownership), and
how it moved and changed across different systems .
Q12. What are the key data governance gaps identified at WGU?
- Correct Answer:
- Lack of visibility into data
- No clear ownership of data assets
- No single source of truth for metadata
- "Trick-or-treating for data"
- Inconsistent metrics and reports
Q13. What is "trick-or-treating for data"?
3
Practices Analysis 2026 Update with complete
solutions.
SECTION 1: CORE DEFINITIONS (Questions 1–10)
Q1. What is data?
- Correct Answer: A representation of facts, concepts, or instructions in a
formalized manner suitable for communication, interpretation, or processing by
humans or by automated means .
Q2. What is data governance?
- Correct Answer: A system of decision rights and accountabilities for
information-related processes, executed according to agreed-upon models which
describe who can take what actions .
Q3. What is metadata?
- Correct Answer: Information about data; data that describes other data. It
provides context and meaning to raw data assets.
Q4. What is the primary purpose of a data governance program?
- Correct Answer: To define decision rights and accountabilities for
information-related processes, ensuring data is managed as a strategic asset and is
trusted, secure, and compliant .
1
,Q5. Who is Garth Gehlbach and what is his role at WGU?
- Correct Answer: Garth Gehlbach is the Head of Data Governance at Western
Governors University (WGU), where he leads initiatives to enhance data
transparency and trust .
Q6. What type of data does WGU manage that makes governance uniquely
challenging?
- Correct Answer: As a fully online university, WGU handles enormous
volumes of data for over 140,000 students enrolled across its four colleges:
business, IT, teaching, and nursing. The scale, variety, and sensitivity of this data
create significant governance challenges .
Q7. What is data provenance?
- Correct Answer: The origin and history of data, including how it was created
and transformed .
Q8. What is reference data?
- Correct Answer: A set of permissible values used to classify or categorize
other data, such as country codes and currency codes .
Q9. What is a data catalog?
- Correct Answer: A centralized repository that stores and organizes metadata,
making it searchable and accessible to users .
Q10. What is data lineage?
2
, - Correct Answer: The origin and history of data, including how it was created
and transformed; similar to data provenance .
SECTION 2: DATA GOVERNANCE GAPS AT WGU (Questions 11–25)
Q11. In the context of WGU's challenges, what does "lack of visibility into data"
mean?
- Correct Answer: It means the organization did not have a clear,
comprehensive understanding of its data landscape. This includes not knowing
what data existed, where it was stored, who was responsible for it (ownership), and
how it moved and changed across different systems .
Q12. What are the key data governance gaps identified at WGU?
- Correct Answer:
- Lack of visibility into data
- No clear ownership of data assets
- No single source of truth for metadata
- "Trick-or-treating for data"
- Inconsistent metrics and reports
Q13. What is "trick-or-treating for data"?
3
