Notice of Intent To Seek Approval To Establish an Information Collection System, 9485-9488 [2014-03534]
Download as PDF
<![CDATA[
Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 33 / Wednesday, February 19, 2014 / Notices
II. Method of Collection
Paper.
[FR Doc. 2014–03505 Filed 2–18–14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510–CM–C
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND
SPACE ADMINISTRATION
[14–019]
Notice of Information Collection
National Aeronautics and
Space Administration (NASA).
ACTION: Notice of information collection.
AGENCY:
The National Aeronautics and
Space Administration, as part of its
continuing effort to reduce paperwork
and respondent burden, invites the
general public and other Federal
agencies to take this opportunity to
comment on proposed and/or
continuing information collections, as
required by the Paperwork Reduction
Act of 1995.
DATES: All comments should be
submitted within 60 calendar days from
the date of this publication.
ADDRESSES: All comments should be
addressed to Frances Teel, National
Aeronautics and Space Administration,
Washington, DC 20546–0001.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Requests for additional information or
copies of the information collection
instrument(s) and instructions should
be directed to Frances Teel, NASA PRA
Officer, NASA Headquarters, 300 E
Street SW., JF0000, Washington, DC
20546, (202) 358–2225.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
SUMMARY:
EMCDONALD on DSK67QTVN1PROD with NOTICES
I. Abstract
IV. Request for Comments
Comments are invited on: (1) Whether
the proposed collection of information
is necessary for the proper performance
of the functions of NASA, including
whether the information collected has
practical utility; (2) The accuracy of
NASA’s estimate of the burden
(including hours and cost) of the
proposed collection of information; (3)
Ways to enhance the quality, utility, and
clarity of the information to be
collected; and (4) Ways to minimize the
burden of the collection of information
on respondents, including automated
collection techniques or the use of other
forms of information technology.
Comments submitted in response to
this notice will be summarized and
included in the request for OMB
approval of this information collection.
They will also become a matter of
public record.
Frances Teel,
NASA PRA Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 2014–03590 Filed 2–18–14; 8:45 am]
The KEEP is a job shadowing program
designed to provide students with
career exploration opportunities under
the mentorship of a NASA Kennedy
Space Center (KSC) subject matter
expert. Participation in the program is
limited to students who are U.S. citizens
and 16 years or older. Interested
students will submit a job shadowing
application package, which includes
recommendations from two separate
science, math, or technology teachers
associated with their current school of
enrollment and designation of their top
three choices for the job shadowing
experience to include but not limited to
biomedical, chemistry, computer
science, engineering, meteorology, and
physics. Students may request a
shadowing opportunity for a period of
1–5 days. This information collection
renewal includes updates to the
application package for clarity and
comprehensibility.
VerDate Mar<15>2010
III. Data
Title: Kennedy Educational
Experiences program (KEEP).
OMB Number: 2700–0135.
Type of review: Renewal, with change,
of currently approved information
collection.
Affected Public: Individuals.
Estimated Number of Respondents:
60.
Estimated Total Annual Burden
Hours: 30.6.
Estimated Total Annual Cost to
Respondents: $15.00 per respondent.
16:15 Feb 18, 2014
Jkt 232001
BILLING CODE 7510–13–P
NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
Notice of Intent To Seek Approval To
Establish an Information Collection
System
National Science Foundation.
Notice and request for
comments.
AGENCY:
ACTION:
Under the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104–
13 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), and as part
of its continuing effort to reduce
paperwork and respondent burden, the
National Science Foundation (NSF) is
inviting the general public or other
Federal agencies to comment on this
proposed continuing information
collection.
Comments: Comments are invited on:
(a) Whether the proposed collection of
SUMMARY:
PO 00000
Frm 00030
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
9485
information is necessary for the proper
performance of the functions of the
Foundation, including whether the
information will have practical utility;
(b) the accuracy of the Foundation’s
estimate of the burden of the proposed
collection of information; (c) ways to
enhance the quality, utility, and clarity
of the information to be collected; and
(d) ways to minimize the burden of the
collection of information on those who
are to respond, including through the
use of automated collection techniques
or other forms of information
technology.
Written comments on this notice
must be received by April 21, 2014, to
be assured consideration. Comments
received after that date will be
considered to the extent practicable.
Send comments to address below.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms.
Suzanne H. Plimpton, Reports Clearance
Officer, National Science Foundation,
4201 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 1265,
Arlington, Virginia 22230; telephone
(703) 292–7556; or send email to
splimpto@nsf.gov. Individuals who use
a telecommunications device for the
deaf (TDD) may call the Federal
Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1–
800–877–8339, which is accessible 24
hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a
year (including federal holidays).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title of Collection: Engineering
Program Monitoring Data Collections.
OMB Number: 3145–NEW.
Expiration Date of Approval: Not
applicable.
Type of Request: Intent to seek
approval to establish an information
collection for post-award output and
outcome monitoring system.
Abstract:
Proposed Project:
NSF provides nearly 20 percent of
federal funding for basic research to
academic institutions.1 Within NSF, the
Directorate for Engineering (ENG) has
primary responsibility for promoting the
progress of engineering in the United
States in order to enable the Nation’s
capacity to perform. Its investments in
engineering research and education aim
to build and strengthen a national
capacity for innovation that can lead
over time to the creation of new shared
wealth and a better quality of life. Most
NSF programs in engineering are funded
through the Directorate for Engineering,
which also sponsors the NSF’s
Industrial Innovation and Partnerships
(IIP) Division. To these ends, ENG
DATES:
1 National Science Foundation. (2012). NSF at a
glance. Retrieved from https://www.nsf.gov/about/
glance.jsp.
E:\FR\FM\19FEN1.SGM
19FEN1
EMCDONALD on DSK67QTVN1PROD with NOTICES
9486
Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 33 / Wednesday, February 19, 2014 / Notices
provides support for research and
implementation activities that may meet
national needs. While scientists seek to
discover what is not yet known,
engineers apply fundamental science to
design and develop new devices and
engineered systems to solve societal
problems. ENG also focuses on
broadening participation in engineering
research and careers.
The Directorate for Engineering (ENG)
requests of the Office of Management
and Budget (OMB) a clearance that will
allow NSF–ENG to improve the rigor of
our surveys for evaluations and program
monitoring, as well as to initiate new
data collections to monitor the
immediate, intermediate and long-term
outcomes of our investments by
periodically surveying the grantees and
their students involved in the research.
The clearance will allow any program in
the Directorate for Engineering at NSF to
rigorously develop, test, and implement
survey instruments and methodologies.
Some NSF–ENG programs regularly
conduct a variety of data collection
activities that include routine program
monitoring, program evaluations, and
education-related data collections from
federally funded institutions of higher
education. The primary objective of this
clearance is to allow other programs in
NSF–ENG to collect outcome and
output data from grantees, their partners
and students, which will enable the
evaluation of the impact of its
investments in engineering research
over time. With that purpose, this
clearance will allow us to use a bank of
approved question items as needed as
long as the resources consumed to do
not exceed this request. The second
related objective is to improve our
questionnaires and/or data collection
procedures through pilot tests and other
survey methods used in these activities
for different programs. Under this
clearance a variety of surveys could be
pre-tested, modified and used. The
exact combination of questions from the
question bank is currently unknown for
each program, but it will be based on
their respective logic models and
program goals. Following standard OMB
requirements, NSF will submit to OMB
an individual request for each survey
project it undertakes under this
clearance. NSF will request OMB
approval in advance and provide OMB
with a copy of the questionnaire (if one
is used) and materials describing the
project.
In doing so, this request seeks
approval for multiple data collections
that have similar elements and purposes
and will provide essential information
for program monitoring purposes
through multiple possible methods of
VerDate Mar<15>2010
16:15 Feb 18, 2014
Jkt 232001
collection. Data collected by ENG
program outcome monitoring systems
will be used for program planning,
management, evaluation, and audit
purposes. Summaries of output and
outcome monitoring data are used to
respond to queries from Congress, the
public, NSF’s external merit reviewers
who serve as advisors, including
Committees of Visitors (COVs), and
NSF’s Office of the Inspector General.
These data are needed for effective
administration, program and project
monitoring, evaluation, strategic
reviews and for measuring attainment of
NSF’s program and strategic goals, as
identified by the President’s
Accountable Government Initiative, the
Government Performance and Results
Act (GPRA) Modernization Act of 2010,
and NSF’s Strategic Plan.
Outcome and output monitoring data
represented in this collection is
complementary to the data collected in
the RPPR both with respect to type of
questions and indicators (content) and
timeliness of the collection. All
questions asked are questions that are
NOT included in the final or annual
report and the intention is to ask them
even beyond the period of performance
on voluntary basis in order to capture
impacts of the research that occur
beyond the life of the award.
Questionnaire items fall into the
category of general items that could be
used across programs as well as items of
interest to a particular division. We are
seeking to collect additional information
from the grantees about the outcomes of
their research that go above and beyond
the standard reporting requirements
used by the NSF and could span a
period of up to 10 years after the award.
The six (6) divisions or offices in
NSF–ENG which oversee multiple
programs are included in this request.
They are designed to assist in
management of specific programs,
divisions, or multi-agency initiatives
and to serve as data resources for
current and future program evaluations.
Program/office
Emerging Frontiers in
Research and Innovation (EFRI).
Engineering Education and Centers
(EEC).
Industrial Innovation
and Partnerships
(IIP).
PO 00000
Frm 00031
Fmt 4703
Type of program
Fundamental Research.
Large research center’s research (Implementation & Development) & Research and Education.
Translational Research.
Sfmt 4703
Program/office
Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and
Transport Systems
(CBET).
Civil, Mechanical, and
Manufacturing Innovation (CMMI).
Electrical, Communications, and
Cyber Systems
(ECCS).
Type of program
Fundamental Research.
Fundamental Research.
Fundamental Research.
ENG-funded projects could include
research opportunities and mentoring
for educators, scholars, and university
students, as well as outreach programs
that help stir the imagination of K–12
students, often with a focus on groups
underrepresented in science and
engineering. The surveys to be tested
and implemented would be designed to
assist in management of specific
division programs, divisions, or multiagency initiatives and to serve as data
resources for current and future program
evaluations.
This data collection effort will enable
program officers to longitudinally
monitor outputs and outcomes given the
unique goals and purpose of their
programs. This is very important to
enable appropriate and accurate
evidence-based management of the
programs and to determine whether or
not the specific goals of the programs
are being met.
Grantees will be invited to submit this
information on a periodic basis to
support performance review and the
management of ENG grants by ENG
officers. Once the survey tool for a
specific program is tested, ENG grantees
will be invited to submit these
indicators to NSF via data collection
methods that include but are not limited
to online surveys, interviews, focus
groups, phone interviews, etc. These
indicators are both quantitative and
descriptive and may include, for
example, the characteristics of project
personnel and students; sources of
complementary cash and in-kind
support to the ENG project;
characteristics of industrial and/or other
sector participation; research activities;
education activities; knowledge transfer
activities; patents, licenses;
publications; descriptions of significant
advances and other outcomes of the
ENG-funded effort.
Use of the Information: The data
collected will be used for NSF internal
reports, historical data, program level
studies and evaluations, and for
securing future funding for the ENG
program maintenance and growth.
These data could be used for program
E:\FR\FM\19FEN1.SGM
19FEN1
9487
Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 33 / Wednesday, February 19, 2014 / Notices
evaluation purposes if deemed
necessary for a particular program.
Evaluation designs could make use of
metadata associated with the award, and
other characteristics to identify a
comparison group to evaluate the
data on the outcomes of interest will
result in substantial savings on the
evaluation per se.
Estimate of Burden:
impact of the program funding and
other interesting research questions.
Different designs could be possible
based on the research questions varying
from program to program but the fact
that NSF–ENG has already collected
Number of
respondents
Collection title
Annual
number of
responses/
respondent
Annual hour
burden
Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation (EFRI) .............................................................
Civil, Mechanical, and Manufacturing Innovation (CMMI) ...........................................................
Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems (CBET) ..............................
Electrical, Communications, and Cyber Systems (ECCS) ..........................................................
Engineering Education and Centers (EEC) .................................................................................
Industrial Innovation and Partnerships (IIP) ................................................................................
85
1300
1750
1000
100
1000
0.25
0.25
0.25
0.25
0.25
4
21.25
325
437.5
250
100
4000
Total ......................................................................................................................................
5,235
........................
5,133.75
Below is an example that shows how
the hour burden was estimated for the
monitoring system.
The estimated average number of
annual respondents is 5,235, with an
estimated annual response burden of
5,133.75 hours. For post-award
monitoring systems, most divisions
expect to collect data at 1, 2, 5, and 10
years post-award, in order to have the
best chance of capturing the more
immediate outcomes expected by 1–2
years post-award, intermediate
outcomes at 5 years post-award, and
long-term outcomes/impacts at 10 years
post-award. These four (4) data
collections spread over the span of 10
years; this averages to 0.25 data
collections/year. For the IIP division,
many awards are made in translational
research, such that we might expect a
shorter and more condensed timeline of
outcomes and impacts. Thus, some
programs may wish to collect data
quarterly for the first two years of the
award, and then once annually at 5 and
10 years post-award. The annual
number of responses for the first 2 years
post-award is included in this table.
For life-of-award monitoring, the data
collection burden to awardees will be
limited to no more than 2 hours of the
respondents’ time in each instance.
Respondents: The respondents are
either PIs or program coordinators. One
PI or program coordinator per award
completes the questionnaire.
Estimates of Annualized Cost to
Respondents for the Hour Burdens
The overall annualized cost to the
respondents is estimated to be $214,635.
Number of
respondents
Respondent type
The following table shows the
annualized estimate of costs to PI/
program coordinator respondents, who
are generally university professors. This
estimated hourly rate is based on a
report from the American Association of
University Professors, ‘‘Annual Report
on the Economic Status of the
Profession, 2011–12,’’ Academe,
March–April 2012, Survey Report Table
4. According to this report, the average
salary of an associate professor across
all types of doctoral-granting
institutions (public, privateindependent, religiously affiliated) was
$86,319. When divided by the number
of standard annual work hours (2,080),
this calculates to approximately $41 per
hour.
Burden
hours per
respondent
Average
hourly rate
Estimated
annual cost
PIs/Program Coordinators (EFRI, CBET, CMMI, ECCS, EEC) ......................
PIs/Program Coordinators (IIP Division) ..........................................................
4,235
1,000
0.25
1
$41
41
$173,635
41,000
Total ..........................................................................................................
5,235
........................
........................
214,635
Estimated Number of Responses per
Report: Data collection for the
collections involves all awardees in the
programs involved. The table below
shows the total universe and sample
size for each of the collections.
RESPONDENT UNIVERSE AND SAMPLE SIZE OF ENG PROGRAM MONITORING CLEARANCE COLLECTIONS
Universe of
respondents
EMCDONALD on DSK67QTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Collection title
Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation (EFRI) .........................................................................................
Civil, Mechanical, and Manufacturing Innovation (CMMI) .......................................................................................
Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems (CBET) ..........................................................
Electrical, Communications, and Cyber Systems (ECCS) ......................................................................................
Engineering Education and Centers (EEC) .............................................................................................................
Industrial Innovation and Partnerships (IIP) ............................................................................................................
VerDate Mar<15>2010
16:15 Feb 18, 2014
Jkt 232001
PO 00000
Frm 00032
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
E:\FR\FM\19FEN1.SGM
19FEN1
85
1300
1750
1000
100
1000
Sample size
85
1300
1750
1000
100
1000
9488
Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 33 / Wednesday, February 19, 2014 / Notices
Dated: February 12, 2014.
Suzanne H. Plimpton,
Reports Clearance Officer, National Science
Foundation.
[FR Doc. 2014–03534 Filed 2–18–14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7555–01–P
NUCLEAR REGULATORY
COMMISSION
[Docket No. NRC–2014–0022]
Agency Information Collection
Activities: Proposed Collection;
Comment Request
Nuclear Regulatory
Commission.
ACTION: Notice of pending NRC action to
submit an information collection
request to the Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) and solicitation of public
comment.
AGENCY:
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC) invites public
comment about our intention to request
the OMB’s approval for renewal of an
existing information collection that is
summarized below. We are required to
publish this notice in the Federal
Register under the provisions of the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44
U.S.C. Chapter 35).
Information pertaining to the
requirement to be submitted:
1. The title of the information
collection: NUREG/BR–0254, Payment
Methods; and NRC Form 629,
‘‘Authorization for Payment by Credit
Card.’’
2. Current OMB approval number:
3150–0190.
3. How often the collection is
required: As needed to process credit
card payments.
4. Who is required or asked to report:
Anyone doing business with the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission
including licensees, applicants and
individuals who are required to pay a
fee for inspections and licenses.
5. The number of annual respondents:
545.
6. The number of hours needed
annually to complete the requirement or
request: 45.4 hours.
7. Abstract: The U.S. Department of
Treasury encourages the public to pay
monies owed to the government through
use of the Automated Clearinghouse
Network and credit cards. These two
methods of payment are used by
licensees, applicants, and individuals to
pay civil penalties, full cost licensing
fees, and annual fees to the NRC.
Submit, by April 21, 2014, comments
that address the following questions:
EMCDONALD on DSK67QTVN1PROD with NOTICES
SUMMARY:
VerDate Mar<15>2010
16:15 Feb 18, 2014
Jkt 232001
1. Is the proposed collection of
information necessary for the NRC to
properly perform its functions? Does the
information have practical utility?
2. Is the burden estimate accurate?
3. Is there a way to enhance the
quality, utility, and clarity of the
information to be collected?
4. How can the burden of the
information collection be minimized,
including the use of automated
collection techniques or other forms of
information technology?
The public may examine and have
copied for a fee publicly-available
documents, including the draft
supporting statement, at the NRC’s
Public Document Room, Room O–1F21,
One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville
Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852. The
OMB clearance requests are available at
the NRC’s Web site: https://www.nrc.gov/
public-involve/doc-comment/omb/. The
document will be available on the
NRC’s home page site for 60 days after
the signature date of this notice.
Comments submitted in writing or in
electronic form will be made available
for public inspection. Because your
comments will not be edited to remove
any identifying or contact information,
the NRC cautions you against including
any information in your submission that
you do not want to be publicly
disclosed. Comments submitted should
reference Docket No. NRC–2014–0022.
You may submit your comments by any
of the following methods: Electronic
comments go to https://
www.regulations.gov and search for
Docket No. NRC–2014–0022. Mail
comments to Acting NRC Clearance
Officer, Kristen Benney (T–5 F50), U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555–0001. Questions
about the information collection
requirements may be directed to the
Acting NRC Clearance Officer, Kristen
Benney (T–5 F50), U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, Washington,
DC 20555–0001, by telephone at 301–
415–6355, or by email to
INFOCOLLECTS.Resource@NRC.GOV.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 12th day
of February 2014.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Brenda Miles,
Acting NRC Clearance Officer, Office of
Information Services.
[FR Doc. 2014–03538 Filed 2–18–14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590–01–P
PO 00000
Frm 00033
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
NUCLEAR REGULATORY
COMMISSION
[Docket No. NRC–2013–0248]
Agency Information Collection
Activities: Submission for the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB)
Review; Comment Request
Nuclear Regulatory
Commission.
ACTION: Notice of the OMB review of
information collection and solicitation
of public comment.
AGENCY:
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC) has recently
submitted to OMB for review the
following proposal for the collection of
information under the provisions of the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44
U.S.C. Chapter 35). The NRC hereby
informs potential respondents that an
agency may not conduct or sponsor, and
that a person is not required to respond
to, a collection of information unless it
displays a currently valid OMB control
number. The NRC published a Federal
Register notice with a 60-day comment
period on this information collection on
November 25, 2013 (78 FR 70353).
1. Type of submission, new, revision,
or extension: Extension.
2. The title of the information
collection: 10 CFR Part 39, ‘‘Licenses
and Radiation Safety Requirements for
Well Logging.’’
3. Current OMB approval number:
3150–0130.
4. The form number if applicable: Not
applicable.
5. How often the collection is
required: Applications for new licenses
and amendments may be submitted at
any time. Applications for renewals are
submitted every 10 years. Reports are
submitted as events occur.
6. Who will be required or asked to
report: Applicants for and holders of
specific licenses authorizing the use of
licensed radioactive materials for well
logging.
7. An estimate of the number of
annual responses: 2,393 (326 NRC
licensees’ responses + 2,067 Agreement
States licensees’ responses).
8. The estimated number of annual
respondents: 235 (32 NRC licensees +
203 Agreement States licensees).
9. An estimate of the total number of
hours needed annually to complete the
requirement or request: 50,980 hours
(6,943 NRC licensees’ hours + 44,037
Agreement States licensees’ hours). The
NRC licensees’ total burden is 6,943
hours (103 reporting and 6,840
recordkeeping hours). The Agreement
States licensees’ total burden is 44,037
SUMMARY:
E:\FR\FM\19FEN1.SGM
19FEN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 33 (Wednesday, February 19, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9485-9488]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-03534]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
Notice of Intent To Seek Approval To Establish an Information
Collection System
AGENCY: National Science Foundation.
ACTION: Notice and request for comments.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13
(44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), and as part of its continuing effort to
reduce paperwork and respondent burden, the National Science Foundation
(NSF) is inviting the general public or other Federal agencies to
comment on this proposed continuing information collection.
Comments: Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed
collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of
the functions of the Foundation, including whether the information will
have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the Foundation's estimate
of the burden of the proposed collection of information; (c) ways to
enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be
collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of
information on those who are to respond, including through the use of
automated collection techniques or other forms of information
technology.
DATES: Written comments on this notice must be received by April 21,
2014, to be assured consideration. Comments received after that date
will be considered to the extent practicable. Send comments to address
below.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Suzanne H. Plimpton, Reports
Clearance Officer, National Science Foundation, 4201 Wilson Boulevard,
Suite 1265, Arlington, Virginia 22230; telephone (703) 292-7556; or
send email to splimpto@nsf.gov. Individuals who use a
telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal
Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339, which is accessible
24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year (including federal
holidays).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title of Collection: Engineering Program Monitoring Data
Collections.
OMB Number: 3145-NEW.
Expiration Date of Approval: Not applicable.
Type of Request: Intent to seek approval to establish an
information collection for post-award output and outcome monitoring
system.
Abstract:
Proposed Project:
NSF provides nearly 20 percent of federal funding for basic
research to academic institutions.\1\ Within NSF, the Directorate for
Engineering (ENG) has primary responsibility for promoting the progress
of engineering in the United States in order to enable the Nation's
capacity to perform. Its investments in engineering research and
education aim to build and strengthen a national capacity for
innovation that can lead over time to the creation of new shared wealth
and a better quality of life. Most NSF programs in engineering are
funded through the Directorate for Engineering, which also sponsors the
NSF's Industrial Innovation and Partnerships (IIP) Division. To these
ends, ENG
[[Page 9486]]
provides support for research and implementation activities that may
meet national needs. While scientists seek to discover what is not yet
known, engineers apply fundamental science to design and develop new
devices and engineered systems to solve societal problems. ENG also
focuses on broadening participation in engineering research and
careers.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ National Science Foundation. (2012). NSF at a glance.
Retrieved from https://www.nsf.gov/about/glance.jsp.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Directorate for Engineering (ENG) requests of the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) a clearance that will allow NSF-ENG to
improve the rigor of our surveys for evaluations and program
monitoring, as well as to initiate new data collections to monitor the
immediate, intermediate and long-term outcomes of our investments by
periodically surveying the grantees and their students involved in the
research. The clearance will allow any program in the Directorate for
Engineering at NSF to rigorously develop, test, and implement survey
instruments and methodologies.
Some NSF-ENG programs regularly conduct a variety of data
collection activities that include routine program monitoring, program
evaluations, and education-related data collections from federally
funded institutions of higher education. The primary objective of this
clearance is to allow other programs in NSF-ENG to collect outcome and
output data from grantees, their partners and students, which will
enable the evaluation of the impact of its investments in engineering
research over time. With that purpose, this clearance will allow us to
use a bank of approved question items as needed as long as the
resources consumed to do not exceed this request. The second related
objective is to improve our questionnaires and/or data collection
procedures through pilot tests and other survey methods used in these
activities for different programs. Under this clearance a variety of
surveys could be pre-tested, modified and used. The exact combination
of questions from the question bank is currently unknown for each
program, but it will be based on their respective logic models and
program goals. Following standard OMB requirements, NSF will submit to
OMB an individual request for each survey project it undertakes under
this clearance. NSF will request OMB approval in advance and provide
OMB with a copy of the questionnaire (if one is used) and materials
describing the project.
In doing so, this request seeks approval for multiple data
collections that have similar elements and purposes and will provide
essential information for program monitoring purposes through multiple
possible methods of collection. Data collected by ENG program outcome
monitoring systems will be used for program planning, management,
evaluation, and audit purposes. Summaries of output and outcome
monitoring data are used to respond to queries from Congress, the
public, NSF's external merit reviewers who serve as advisors, including
Committees of Visitors (COVs), and NSF's Office of the Inspector
General. These data are needed for effective administration, program
and project monitoring, evaluation, strategic reviews and for measuring
attainment of NSF's program and strategic goals, as identified by the
President's Accountable Government Initiative, the Government
Performance and Results Act (GPRA) Modernization Act of 2010, and NSF's
Strategic Plan.
Outcome and output monitoring data represented in this collection
is complementary to the data collected in the RPPR both with respect to
type of questions and indicators (content) and timeliness of the
collection. All questions asked are questions that are NOT included in
the final or annual report and the intention is to ask them even beyond
the period of performance on voluntary basis in order to capture
impacts of the research that occur beyond the life of the award.
Questionnaire items fall into the category of general items that could
be used across programs as well as items of interest to a particular
division. We are seeking to collect additional information from the
grantees about the outcomes of their research that go above and beyond
the standard reporting requirements used by the NSF and could span a
period of up to 10 years after the award.
The six (6) divisions or offices in NSF-ENG which oversee multiple
programs are included in this request. They are designed to assist in
management of specific programs, divisions, or multi-agency initiatives
and to serve as data resources for current and future program
evaluations.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Program/office Type of program
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Emerging Frontiers in Research and Fundamental Research.
Innovation (EFRI).
Engineering Education and Centers (EEC)... Large research center's
research (Implementation &
Development) & Research and
Education.
Industrial Innovation and Partnerships Translational Research.
(IIP).
Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, Fundamental Research.
and Transport Systems (CBET).
Civil, Mechanical, and Manufacturing Fundamental Research.
Innovation (CMMI).
Electrical, Communications, and Cyber Fundamental Research.
Systems (ECCS).
------------------------------------------------------------------------
ENG-funded projects could include research opportunities and
mentoring for educators, scholars, and university students, as well as
outreach programs that help stir the imagination of K-12 students,
often with a focus on groups underrepresented in science and
engineering. The surveys to be tested and implemented would be designed
to assist in management of specific division programs, divisions, or
multi-agency initiatives and to serve as data resources for current and
future program evaluations.
This data collection effort will enable program officers to
longitudinally monitor outputs and outcomes given the unique goals and
purpose of their programs. This is very important to enable appropriate
and accurate evidence-based management of the programs and to determine
whether or not the specific goals of the programs are being met.
Grantees will be invited to submit this information on a periodic
basis to support performance review and the management of ENG grants by
ENG officers. Once the survey tool for a specific program is tested,
ENG grantees will be invited to submit these indicators to NSF via data
collection methods that include but are not limited to online surveys,
interviews, focus groups, phone interviews, etc. These indicators are
both quantitative and descriptive and may include, for example, the
characteristics of project personnel and students; sources of
complementary cash and in-kind support to the ENG project;
characteristics of industrial and/or other sector participation;
research activities; education activities; knowledge transfer
activities; patents, licenses; publications; descriptions of
significant advances and other outcomes of the ENG-funded effort.
Use of the Information: The data collected will be used for NSF
internal reports, historical data, program level studies and
evaluations, and for securing future funding for the ENG program
maintenance and growth. These data could be used for program
[[Page 9487]]
evaluation purposes if deemed necessary for a particular program.
Evaluation designs could make use of metadata associated with the
award, and other characteristics to identify a comparison group to
evaluate the impact of the program funding and other interesting
research questions. Different designs could be possible based on the
research questions varying from program to program but the fact that
NSF-ENG has already collected data on the outcomes of interest will
result in substantial savings on the evaluation per se.
Estimate of Burden:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Annual number
Collection title Number of of responses/ Annual hour
respondents respondent burden
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation (EFRI)............ 85 0.25 21.25
Civil, Mechanical, and Manufacturing Innovation (CMMI).......... 1300 0.25 325
Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems 1750 0.25 437.5
(CBET).........................................................
Electrical, Communications, and Cyber Systems (ECCS)............ 1000 0.25 250
Engineering Education and Centers (EEC)......................... 100 0.25 100
Industrial Innovation and Partnerships (IIP).................... 1000 4 4000
-----------------------------------------------
Total....................................................... 5,235 .............. 5,133.75
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Below is an example that shows how the hour burden was estimated
for the monitoring system.
The estimated average number of annual respondents is 5,235, with
an estimated annual response burden of 5,133.75 hours. For post-award
monitoring systems, most divisions expect to collect data at 1, 2, 5,
and 10 years post-award, in order to have the best chance of capturing
the more immediate outcomes expected by 1-2 years post-award,
intermediate outcomes at 5 years post-award, and long-term outcomes/
impacts at 10 years post-award. These four (4) data collections spread
over the span of 10 years; this averages to 0.25 data collections/year.
For the IIP division, many awards are made in translational research,
such that we might expect a shorter and more condensed timeline of
outcomes and impacts. Thus, some programs may wish to collect data
quarterly for the first two years of the award, and then once annually
at 5 and 10 years post-award. The annual number of responses for the
first 2 years post-award is included in this table.
For life-of-award monitoring, the data collection burden to
awardees will be limited to no more than 2 hours of the respondents'
time in each instance.
Respondents: The respondents are either PIs or program
coordinators. One PI or program coordinator per award completes the
questionnaire.
Estimates of Annualized Cost to Respondents for the Hour Burdens
The overall annualized cost to the respondents is estimated to be
$214,635. The following table shows the annualized estimate of costs to
PI/program coordinator respondents, who are generally university
professors. This estimated hourly rate is based on a report from the
American Association of University Professors, ``Annual Report on the
Economic Status of the Profession, 2011-12,'' Academe, March-April
2012, Survey Report Table 4. According to this report, the average
salary of an associate professor across all types of doctoral-granting
institutions (public, private-independent, religiously affiliated) was
$86,319. When divided by the number of standard annual work hours
(2,080), this calculates to approximately $41 per hour.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Number of Burden hours Average hourly Estimated
Respondent type respondents per respondent rate annual cost
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PIs/Program Coordinators (EFRI, CBET, CMMI, 4,235 0.25 $41 $173,635
ECCS, EEC).....................................
PIs/Program Coordinators (IIP Division)......... 1,000 1 41 41,000
---------------------------------------------------------------
Total....................................... 5,235 .............. .............. 214,635
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Estimated Number of Responses per Report: Data collection for the
collections involves all awardees in the programs involved. The table
below shows the total universe and sample size for each of the
collections.
Respondent Universe and Sample Size of ENG Program Monitoring Clearance
Collections
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Universe of
Collection title respondents Sample size
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Emerging Frontiers in Research and 85 85
Innovation (EFRI)......................
Civil, Mechanical, and Manufacturing 1300 1300
Innovation (CMMI)......................
Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, 1750 1750
and Transport Systems (CBET)...........
Electrical, Communications, and Cyber 1000 1000
Systems (ECCS).........................
Engineering Education and Centers (EEC). 100 100
Industrial Innovation and Partnerships 1000 1000
(IIP)..................................
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[[Page 9488]]
Dated: February 12, 2014.
Suzanne H. Plimpton,
Reports Clearance Officer, National Science Foundation.
[FR Doc. 2014-03534 Filed 2-18-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7555-01-P
