[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 127 (Thursday, July 2, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38235-38236]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-15905]


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NATIONAL FOUNDATION ON THE ARTS AND THE HUMANITIES

National Endowment for the Humanities


Proposed Collection; Comment Request; Generic Clearance for the 
Collection of Qualitative Feedback on Agency Service Delivery

AGENCY: National Endowment for the Humanities, National Foundation on 
the Arts and the Humanities.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA), the 
National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is soliciting public 
comments on a new information collection, the ``Generic Clearance for 
the Collection of Qualitative Feedback on Agency Service Delivery.'' 
This generic clearance will fast-track the process for NEH to seek 
feedback, through surveys and similar feedback instruments, from the 
public on NEH services and programs. NEH seeks comments from all 
interested individuals and organizations, and intends to submit this 
generic clearance request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 
for approval.

DATES: Please submit comments on this generic clearance request to NEH 
on or before August 31, 2015.

ADDRESSES: Please submit comments to Mr. Michael McDonald, General 
Counsel at [email protected] or by mail to 400 7th Street SW., 4th 
Floor, Washington, DC 20506.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Title: Generic Clearance for the Collection of Qualitative Feedback 
on Agency Service Delivery.
    Type of Request: New.
    Abstract: NEH is proposing a new information collection--in the 
form of a generic clearance--that will allow NEH to receive fast-track 
approval from OMB when NEH wishes to seek feedback from the public 
about NEH events and programs. With this generic clearance NEH will be 
able to garner qualitative customer and stakeholder feedback in an 
efficient, timely manner, in accordance with the Administration's 
commitment to improving service delivery by Federal agencies to the 
public. By qualitative feedback we mean information that provides 
useful insights on people's opinions of NEH programs, events, 
publications, products and other services NEH provides to the public. 
This qualitative feedback will:
     Provide NEH with insights into customer or stakeholder 
perceptions, experiences and expectations,
     Provide NEH with an early warning of issues with service, 
and
     Focus agency attention on areas where communication, 
training or changes in operations might improve delivery of NEH 
products or services.
    NEH will solicit feedback in areas such as: timeliness, 
appropriateness, accuracy of information, courtesy, efficiency of 
service delivery, and resolution of issues with service delivery. NEH 
will use the responses to plan and to improve the quality of service 
and programs offered to the public.
    NEH will submit a customer survey or other information collection 
for approval under this generic clearance only if it meets the 
following conditions:
     The collection is voluntary;
     The collection is low-burden for respondents (based on 
considerations of total burden hours, total number of respondents, or 
burden-hours per respondent) and is low-cost for both the respondents 
and the Federal Government;
     The collection is non-controversial;
     The collection solicits opinions only from respondents who 
have experience with the program or may have experience with the 
program in the near future;
     The collection only asks for personally identifiable 
information (PII) to the extent necessary, and NEH will not retain the 
PII without the respondent's express consent;
     The collection does not result in any new system of 
records containing privacy information; and
     The collection does not ask questions of a sensitive 
nature, such as sexual behavior and attitudes, religious beliefs, and 
other matters that are commonly considered private.
    For every customer survey or other information collection under 
this generic clearance, NEH will use the information gathered 
internally only for general service improvement and program management 
purposes and does not intend to release the information outside of the 
agency. NEH will not gather information for the purpose of 
substantially informing influential policy decisions. NEH will only 
gather data in a way designed to yield qualitative information, not 
statistically reliable results or results

[[Page 38236]]

meant to be generalizable to the population of study.
    Affected Public: Individuals and Households, Businesses and 
Organizations, State, Local or Tribal Governments.
    Below we provide projected average estimates for the next three 
years. The formula used to calculate the total burden hours is 
``estimated average time per responses'' times ``annual responses.''
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 10,000.
    Estimated Annual Number of Responses per Respondent: Once per 
request.
    Estimated Total Annual Responses: 10,000.
    Estimated Average Time per Response: 15 minutes (0.25 hours).
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 2,500 hours.
    Request for Comments: NEH will make comments submitted in response 
to this notice, including names and addresses where provided, a matter 
of public record. NEH will summarize the comments and include them in 
the request for OMB approval. We are requesting comments on all aspects 
of this generic clearance request, including:
    (a) Whether the collection of information is necessary for the 
proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether 
the information will have practical utility;
    (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the 
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 
respondents, including through the use of automated collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology.
    Burden means the total time, effort, or financial resources 
expended by persons to generate, maintain, retain, disclose or provide 
information to or for a Federal agency. This includes the time needed 
to review instructions; to develop, acquire, install and utilize 
technology and systems for the purpose of collecting, validating and 
verifying information, processing and maintaining information, and 
disclosing and providing information; to train personnel and to be able 
to respond to a collection of information, to search data sources, to 
complete and review the collection of information; and to transmit or 
otherwise disclose the information.
    NEH is requesting OMB approval for three years. There are no costs 
to respondents other than their time.

    Dated: June 23, 2015.
Margaret F. Plympton,
Deputy Chairman.
[FR Doc. 2015-15905 Filed 7-1-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7536-01-P