[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 250 (Wednesday, December 30, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71960-71961]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-34393]


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NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION


Notice of Intent To Seek Approval To Extend and Revise a Current 
Information Collection

AGENCY: National Science Foundation.

ACTION: Notice and Request for Comments.

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SUMMARY: The National Science Foundation (NSF) is announcing plans to 
request renewal of this collection. In accordance with the requirement 
of Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. 
L. 104-13), we are providing opportunity for public comment on this 
action. After obtaining and considering public comment, NSF will 
prepare the submission requesting that OMB approve clearance of this 
collection for 3 years.

DATES: Written comments on this notice must be received by March 1, 
1999 to be assured of consideration. Comments received after that date 
will be considered to the extent practicable.

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION OR COMMENTS: Contact Suzanne H. Plimpton, 
Reports Clearance Officer, National Science Foundation, 4201 Wilson 
Boulevard, Suite 295, Arlington, Virginia 22230; telephone (703) 306-
1125 x 2017; or send e-mail to [email protected]. You also may obtain a 
copy of the data collection instrument and instructions from Ms. 
Plimpton.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title of Collection: Survey of Research and Development 
Expenditures at Universities and Colleges, FY 1999 through FY 2001; OMB 
Control Number 3145-0100.
    Comments are invited on (a) whether the proposed collection of 
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of 
the Agency, including whether the information shall have practical 
utility; (b) the accuracy of the Agency's estimate of the burden of the 
proposed collection of information; (c) ways to enhance the quality, 
utility, and clarity of the information on respondents, including 
through the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of 
information technology.
    Proposed Renewal Project: Separately budgeted current fund 
expenditures on research and development in the sciences and 
engineering performed by universities and colleges and their affiliated 
federally funded research and development centers--A mail/electronic 
survey, the Survey of Scientific and Engineering Expenditures at 
Universities and Colleges, originated in fiscal year (FY) 1954 and has 
been conducted annually since FY 1972. The survey is the academic 
expenditure component of the NSF statistical program that seeks to 
provide a ``central clearinghouse for the collection, interpretation, 
and analysis of data on the availability of, and the current and 
projected need for, scientific and technical resources in the United 
States, and to provide a source of information for policy formulation 
by other agencies of the Federal government,'' as mandated in the 
National Science Foundation Act of 1950.
    Use of the Information: The proposed project will return to and 
maintain a full survey cycle population of about 700 institutions.
    The survey which was conducted as a full survey population only 
every 5 years and as a statistical sample in each of the 4 intervening 
years was based primarily on reducing respondent burden. Consistency of 
records of the non-sampled institutions and frequent personnel changes, 
added to their burden. With the onset of Web-based data collection and 
a change for a minimum requirement of $150K in expenditures for any 
master's or bachelor's degree-granting institution, the respondent 
burden and timleness is expected to decrease. These institutions 
account for over 98 percent of the Nation's academic R&D funds. The 
survey has provided continuity of statistics on R&D expenditures by 
source of funds and passed through dollars; by science & engineering 
(S&E) field, and separate data requested on current fund expenditures 
for research equipment by S&E field, and selected non-science & 
engineering fields. In addition, Statistics from the survey are 
published in NSF's annual publication series Academic Science and 
Engineering R&D Expenditures and are available electronically on the 
World Wide Web.
    The survey will be mailed primarily to the administrators at the 
Institutional Research Offices. To minimize burden, institutions are 
provided with (in addition to paper copy) file specifications needed to 
upload data from the web data collection system (http://www.qrc.com/
exp). Approximately 65% responded electronically using the previous 
Automatic Survey Questionnaire on diskette to this voluntary survey in 
FY 1997 and a total response rate of 98.0% was obtained. Burden 
estimates are as follows:

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                                                                               Burden hours
                                           Total number  -------------------------------------------------------
               Fiscal year                      of                                                 Bachelors or
                                           institutions   Doctorate--granting  Masters--granting       below
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1997....................................             692               19.0                 7.0              7.0
1996....................................             692               21.5                 7.1              6.2
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[[Page 71961]]

    Dated: December 23, 1998.
Suzanne H. Plimpton,
Reports Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 98-34393 Filed 12-29-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7555-01-U