[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 138 (Monday, July 20, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42843-42845]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-17698]


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NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION


Notice of Intent To Seek Approval To Establish an Information 
Collection

AGENCY: National Science Foundation.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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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 are invited on 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; the accuracy of the Foundation's estimate of the burden of the 
proposed collection of information; ways to enhance the quality, 
utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and 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 September 
18, 2015, 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 [email protected]. 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: Community College Innovation Challenge 
Information Collection.
    OMB Number: 3145--NEW.
    Expiration Date of Approval: Not applicable.
    Type of Request: Intent to seek approval to establish an 
information collection for post-challenge outcome monitoring system.

Abstract

Proposed Project

    NSF provides nearly 20 percent of federal funding for basic 
research to academic institutions.\1\ The Office of Legislative and 
Public Affairs (OLPA) communicates information about the activities, 
programs, research results and policies of NSF. OLPA employs a wide 
variety of tools and techniques to engage the general public and 
selected audiences including Congress, the news media, state and local 
governments, other Federal agencies, and the research and education 
communities. To these ends, OLPA provides support for innovative new 
initiatives designed to increase public engagement and scientific 
progress. An important aspect of scientific progress is the education 
of future scientists. Improvements in science, technology, engineering 
and mathematics (STEM) curricula, particularly changes that engage 
students in the process of research and discovery, have become a focal 
point for attracting more students into science. Undergraduate research 
is a significant strategy for improving undergraduate STEM education.
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    \1\ National Science Foundation. (2012). NSF at a glance. 
Retrieved from http://www.nsf.gov/about/glance.jsp.
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    Community colleges prepare technicians who will become an integral 
part of research efforts and students who will continue their education 
at four-year institutions. Further, they play a significant role in the 
preparation of underrepresented groups in science. Community colleges 
have long recognized the importance of mentoring students and have a 
history of success in educating underrepresented students for 
successful careers in STEM. Thus, community colleges play an important 
role in workforce development in their states and local communities. 
Industry frequently looks to community colleges to provide an educated 
and technologically up-to-date workforce. The National Science 
Foundation's (NSF) thrust of incorporating research into the 
traditional teaching mission of the community college is a relatively 
new expansion of its mission. This challenge furthers NSF's mission by 
enabling students to discover and demonstrate their capacity to use 
science to make a difference in the world, and to transfer knowledge 
into action.
    The Office of Legislative and Public Affairs (OLPA) requests of the 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) an approval for an information 
collection intended to monitor outputs, short-term, intermediate and 
long term outcomes of OLPA's new Community College Innovation 
Challenge.
    The survey questionnaire, individually tailored to measure outputs 
and outcomes for this initiative, will provide essential information 
for program monitoring purposes. Data collected by this collection will 
be used for program planning, management, and evaluation. A summary of 
monitoring data can be 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, and for measuring

[[Page 42844]]

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. The collection included in this request is designed to 
assist in management of the CCIC and to serve as a data resource for 
current and future initiative evaluations.
    This data collection effort will enable OLPA to longitudinally 
monitor outputs and outcomes given the unique goals and purpose of the 
CCIC. This is very important to enable appropriate and accurate 
evidence-based management of the program and to determine whether or 
not the specific goals of the program are being met.
    Participants will be invited to submit this information via data 
collection methods that include but are not limited to online surveys, 
interviews, phone interviews, etc. The indicators are both quantitative 
and descriptive and may include number of students majoring in STEM 
disciplines or joining the STEM workforce, faculty expressions of 
mentoring ability for STEM careers, number of participants continuing 
to participate in innovation or entrepreneurship activities among other 
indicators.
    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 CCIC program 
maintenance and growth. These data could be used for program evaluation 
purposes if deemed necessary. Evaluation designs could make use of 
metadata associated with the contest, and other characteristics to 
identify a comparison group to evaluate the impact of the program 
funding and other interesting research questions.

                                               Estimate of Burden
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                                                                                  Annual  number
                        Collection title                             Number of    of  responses/    Annual hour
                                                                    respondents     respondent        burden
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Community College Innovation Challenge Monitoring Collection....             410             .25             .1
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Total.......................................................             410             .25           10.25
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    Below is an example that shows how the hour burden was estimated 
for the monitoring system.
    The estimated average number of annual respondents is 410, with an 
estimated annual response burden of 10.25 hours. For post-award 
monitoring systems, OLPA expects to collect data at 6 months 1, 3, and 
8 years post-challenge, in order to have the best chance of capturing 
the more immediate outcomes expected by ~1 year post-challenge, 
intermediate outcomes at 3 years post-challenge, and long-term 
outcomes/impacts at 8 years post challenge. These four (4) data 
collections spread over the span of 10 years; this averages to 0.25 
data collections/year. The community college population may transition 
relatively quickly to another school or to the workforce and we might 
expect a shorter and more condensed timeline of outcomes and impacts. 
Thus, we wish to collect data at 6 months and one year after the 
challenge, and then once annually at 3 and 8 years post-award.

Respondents

    The respondents are faculty mentors and community college students.

Estimates of Annualized Cost to Respondents for the Hour Burdens

    The overall annualized cost to the respondents is estimated to be 
$8,800. The following table shows the annualized estimate of costs to 
faculty mentor respondents, who are community college 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, 2014-15,'' Academe, March-April 2015, Survey 
Report Table 4. According to this report, the average salary of an 
associate professor across all types of associate's degree granting 
institutions (public, private-independent) was $62,221. When divided by 
the number of standard annual work hours (2,080), this calculates to 
approximately $30 per hour. For the students, due to the broad range of 
employment levels, we estimated an average hourly rate of $20.

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                                                                   Burden  hours
                 Respondent type                     Number of          per           Average        Estimated
                                                    respondents     respondent      hourly rate     annual cost
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Faculty Mentors.................................              60               1             $30          $1,800
Students........................................             350               1              20           7,000
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Estimated Number of Responses per Report

    Data collection involves all finalists and semifinalists in the 
challenge. The table below shows the total universe and sample size for 
the collections.

   Respondent Universe and Sample Size of CCIC Information Collections
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                                          Universe of
           Collection title               respondents      Sample size
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Community College Innovation Challenge             410              410
 Monitoring Collection................
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[[Page 42845]]

    Dated: July 15, 2015.
Suzanne H. Plimpton,
Reports Clearance Officer, National Science Foundation.
[FR Doc. 2015-17698 Filed 7-17-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7555-01-P