[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 211 (Wednesday, October 31, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54786-54787]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-23784]


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NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION


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

AGENCY: National Science Foundation.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The National Science Foundation (NSF) is announcing plans to 
renew this collection. In accordance with the requirements 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.

DATES: Written comments on this notice must be received by December 31, 
2018 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: Suzanne H. Plimpton, Reports Clearance 
Officer, National Science Foundation, 2415 Eisenhower Avenue, Suite 
W18253, Alexandria, Virginia 22314; 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: 
    Comments: Comments are invited on (a) whether the proposed 
collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of 
the functions of the NCSES, including whether the information will have 
practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the NCSES'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, 
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 those who are to respond, including 
through the use of appropriate automated collection techniques or other 
forms of information technology.
    Title of Collection: Education and Human Resources Program 
Monitoring Clearance.
    OMB Approval Number: 3145-0226.
    Expiration Date of Approval: April 30, 2019.
    Type of Request: Intent to seek renewal of an information 
collection.
    Abstract: The National Science Foundation (NSF) requests re-
clearance 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 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: 2,160.
    Burden on the Public: NSF estimates that a total reporting and 
recordkeeping burden of 39,802 hours will result from activities to 
monitor EHR STEM education programs. The calculation is shown in table 
1.

[[Page 54787]]



 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
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                                                                     Number of       Number of      Annual hour
                        Collection title                            respondents      responses        burden
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Centers of Research Excellence in Science and Technology (CREST)              30              30           1,650
 and Historically Black Colleges and Universities Research
 Infrastructure for Science and Engineering (HBCU-RISE)
 Monitoring System..............................................
Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship Program               35              35           1,890
 (IGERT) Monitoring System......................................
Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP)                    602             602          13,846
 Monitoring System..............................................
Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation Bridge to the               56              56           2,128
 Doctorate (LSAMP-BD) Monitoring System.........................
Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program (Noyce) Monitoring                  460             460           6,440
 System.........................................................
Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and                        700           1,750           4,200
 Mathematics (S-STEM) Monitoring System.........................
Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Talent                     277             277           6,648
 Expansion Program (STEP) Monitoring System.....................
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
    Total.......................................................           2,160           3,210          39,802
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    Dated: October 26, 2018.
Suzanne H. Plimpton,
Reports Clearance Officer, National Science Foundation.
[FR Doc. 2018-23784 Filed 10-30-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7555-01-P