[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 217 (Tuesday, November 10, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 69701-69702]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-28576]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION


Agency Information Collection Activities: Comment Request; 
Education and Human Resources Program Monitoring Clearance

AGENCY: National Science Foundation.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The National Science Foundation (NSF) is announcing plans to 
renew this collection. In accordance with the requirement of section 
3506(c)(2)(A) of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, we are providing 
opportunity for public comment on this action. After obtaining and 
considering public comment, NSF will prepare the submission requesting 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) clearance of this collection for 
no longer than 3 years.
    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; 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.

DATES: Written comments should be received by January 11, 2016 to be 
assured of consideration. Comments received after that date will be 
considered to the extent practicable.

ADDRESSES: Written comments regarding the information collection and 
requests for copies of the proposed information collection request 
should be addressed to Suzanne Plimpton, Reports Clearance Officer, 
National Science Foundation, 4201 Wilson Blvd., Rm. 295, Arlington, VA 
22030, or by email to [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Suzanne Plimpton at (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: Education and Human Resources Program 
Monitoring Clearance.
    OMB Approval Number: 3145-0226.
    Expiration Date of Approval: 2/29/2016.
    Type of Request: Intent to seek renewal of an information 
collection.
    Abstract: The National Science Foundation (NSF) requests 
reclearance of program accountability data collections that describe 
and track the impact of NSF funding that focuses on the Nation's 
science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education and 
STEM workforce. NSF funds grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements 
to colleges, universities, and other eligible institutions, and 
provides graduate research fellowships to individuals in all parts of 
the United States and internationally.
    The Directorate for Education and Human Resources (EHR), a unit 
within NSF, promotes rigor and vitality within the Nation's STEM 
education enterprise to further the development of the 21st century's 
STEM workforce and public scientific literacy. EHR does this through 
diverse projects and programs that support research, extension, 
outreach, and hands-on activities that service STEM learning and 
research at all institutional (e.g., pre-school through postdoctoral) 
levels in formal and informal settings; and individuals of all ages 
(birth and beyond). EHR also focuses on broadening participation in 
STEM learning and careers among United States citizens, permanent 
residents, and nationals, particularly those individuals traditionally 
underemployed in the STEM research workforce, including but not limited 
to women, persons with disabilities, and racial and ethnic minorities.
    The scope of this information collection request will primarily 
cover descriptive information gathered from education and training 
(E&T) projects that are funded by NSF. NSF will primarily use the data 
from this collection for program planning, management, and audit 
purposes to respond to queries from the Congress, the public, NSF's 
external merit reviewers who serve as advisors, including Committees of 
Visitors (COVs), the NSF's Office of the Inspector General, and as a 
basis for either internal or third-party evaluations of individual 
programs.
    The collections will generally include three categories of 
descriptive data: (1) Staff and project participants (data that are 
also necessary to determine individual-level treatment and control 
groups for future third-party study or for internal evaluation); (2) 
project implementation characteristics (also necessary for future use 
to identify well-matched comparison groups); and (3) project outputs 
(necessary to measure baseline for pre- and post- NSF-funding-level 
impacts).
    Use of the Information: This information is required for effective 
administration, communication, program and project monitoring and 
evaluation, and for measuring attainment of NSF's program, project, and 
strategic goals, and as identified by the President's Accountability in 
Government Initiative; GPRA, and the NSF's Strategic Plan. The 
Foundation's

[[Page 69702]]

FY 2014-2018 Strategic Plan may be found at: http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2014/nsf14043/nsf14043.pdf.
    Since this collection will primarily be used for accountability and 
evaluation purposes, including responding to queries from COVs and 
other scientific experts, a census rather than sampling design 
typically is necessary. At the individual project level funding can be 
adjusted based on individual project's responses to some of the 
surveys. Some data collected under this collection will serve as 
baseline data for separate research and evaluation studies.
    NSF-funded contract or grantee researchers and internal or external 
evaluators in part may identify control, comparison, or treatment 
groups for NSF's E&T portfolio using some of the descriptive data 
gathered through this collection to conduct well-designed, rigorous 
research and portfolio evaluation studies.
    Respondents: Individuals or households, not-for-profit 
institutions, business or other for profit, and Federal, State, local 
or tribal government.
    Number of Respondents: 8,184.
    Burden on the Public: NSF estimates that a total reporting and 
recordkeeping burden of 58,449 hours will result from activities to 
monitor EHR STEM education programs. The calculation is shown in table 
1.

 Table 1--Anticipated Programs That Will Collect Data on Project Progress and Outcomes Along With the Number of
                              Respondents and Burden Hours per Collection per Year
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                  Number of                                         Annual hour
               Collection title                  respondents          Number of responses             burden
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL)                   155  155..............................           1,921
 Monitoring System.
Centers of Research Excellence in Science and              40  40...............................           1,810
 Technology (CREST) and Historically Black
 Colleges and Universities Research
 Infrastructure for Science and Engineering
 (HBCU-RISE) Monitoring System.
Graduate STEM Fellows in K-12 Education (GK-            1,267  1,267............................           3,529
 12) Monitoring System.
Integrative Graduate Education and Research             3,307  3,307............................          12,282
 Traineeship Program (IGERT) Monitoring
 System.
Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority                       563  563..............................          12,949
 Participation (LSAMP) Monitoring System.
Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority                        55  55...............................           2,090
 Participation Bridge to the Doctorate (LSAMP-
 BD) Monitoring System.
Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program                  422  422..............................           5,908
 (Noyce) Monitoring System.
Research in Disabilities Education (RDE)                   12  12...............................           1,368
 Monitoring System.
Scholarships in Science, Technology,                      500  1,000 (500 respondents x 2                  6,000
 Engineering, and Mathematics (S-STEM)                          responses/yr.).
 Monitoring System.
Science, Technology, Engineering, and                     277  277..............................           6,648
 Mathematics Talent Expansion Program (STEP)
 Monitoring System.
Transforming Undergraduate Education in                   686  686..............................           2,744
 Science, Technology, Engineering, and
 Mathematics (TUES) Monitoring System.
Additional Collections not Specified.........             900  900..............................           1,200
                                              ------------------------------------------------------------------
    Total....................................           8,184  8,684............................          58,449
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The total estimate for this collection is 58,449 annual burden 
hours. The average annual reporting burden is between 1.7 and 114 hours 
per ``respondent,'' depending on whether a respondent is a direct 
participant who is self-reporting or representing a project and 
reporting on behalf of many project participants.

    Dated: November 5, 2015.
Suzanne H. Plimpton,
Reports Clearance Officer, National Science Foundation.
[FR Doc. 2015-28576 Filed 11-9-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7555-01-P