A panel of presenters in this two-part webinar series shared their experiences about how academic libraries are taking the lead in developing cross-campus collaborations in establishing research data committees to spearhead institutional efforts related to data stewardship and digital projects.Presenters of the first part focused on early-stage efforts to build partnerships and bring key stakeholders to the table. Key points and conclusions from their experiences include the institutional challenges of developing a campus-wide data committee and identifying key individuals instrumental to establishing that same committee.Research Data Access and Preservation (RDAP)Librar