[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 34 (Tuesday, February 21, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10551-10552]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-03489]



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NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION


Agency Information Collection Activities: Comment Request; 
Convergence Accelerator Evaluation & Monitoring Plan

AGENCY: National Science Foundation.

ACTION: Submission for OMB review; comment request.

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SUMMARY: The National Science Foundation (NSF) has submitted the 
following information collection requirement to OMB for review and 
clearance under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. This is the second 
notice for public comment; the first was published in the Federal 
Register, and no comments were received. NSF is forwarding the proposed 
submission to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for clearance 
simultaneously with the publication of this second notice.

DATES: Written comments and recommendations for the proposed 
information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of 
this notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAmain. Find this particular 
information collection by selecting ``Currently under 30-day Review--
Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search function.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Suzanne H. Plimpton, Reports Clearance 
Officer, National Science Foundation, 2415 Eisenhower Avenue, 
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).
    Comments: Comments regarding (a) whether the proposed collection of 
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of 
the NSF, including whether the information shall have practical 
utility; (b) the accuracy of the NSF's estimate of the burden of the 
proposed collection of information; (c) ways to enhance the quality, 
use, and clarity of the information on respondents; 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, 
electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or 
other forms of information technology should be addressed to the points 
of contact in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section.
    Copies of the submission may be obtained by calling 703-292-7556. 
NSF may not conduct or sponsor a collection of information unless the 
collection of information displays a currently valid OMB control 
number, and the agency informs potential persons who are to respond to 
the collection of information that such persons are not required to 
respond to the collection of information unless it displays a currently 
valid OMB control number.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Title of Collection: Convergence Accelerator Evaluation & 
Monitoring Plan.
    OMB Control No.: 3145-New.
    Abstract: The information collection will enable the Evaluation and 
Assessment Capability (EAC) Section within NSF to garner quantitative 
and qualitative information that will be used to inform programmatic 
improvements, efficiencies, and enhanced program monitoring for the 
Convergence Accelerator (CA). This information collection, which 
entails collecting information from CA applicants and grantees through 
a series of surveys, interviews, and case studies, is in accordance 
with the Agency's commitment to improving service delivery as well as 
the Agency's strategic goal to ``advance the capability of the Nation 
to meet current and future challenges.''
    For this effort, four survey instruments have been developed, each 
of which will include closed-ended and open-ended questions to generate 
quantitative and qualitative data. For ease of use for our respondent 
pool, each of the four survey instruments will be programmed into 
interactive web surveys and distributed to eligible respondents by 
email. The surveys, which will serve as a census for all applicable CA 
applicants and/or grantees, will be used to collect baseline measures 
at the start of the program and vital information on how grantees 
progress through the program. Follow-up interviews will be conducted 
with project team leaders, such as Principal Investigators (PIs) and 
Principal Directors (PDs), and case studies that will use a project 
team as the unit of analysis will be used to collect qualitatively rich 
discursive and observational information that cannot be collected 
within a web survey. Both follow-up interviews and case studies will be 
conducted virtually with the possibility of in-person interviews and 
non-participant observation to be held in the future.
    NSF/EAC will only submit a collection for approval under this 
generic clearance if it meets the following conditions:
    [cir] The collection is voluntary;
    [cir] The collection has a reasonably 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 the 
Federal government;
    [cir] The collection is non-controversial and does not raise issues 
of concern for other Federal agencies;
    [cir] The collection is targeted to the solicitation of opinions 
from respondents who have applied to the CA program (including those 
that have submitted successful grant applications and subsequently 
received funding);
    [cir] Personally identifiable information (PII) is collected only 
to the extent necessary; and
    [cir] Information gathered will be used for the dual and 
interrelated purposes of disseminating information about the CA program 
and using this information to make programmatic improvements, 
efficiencies, and enhanced program monitoring for the CA.
    Feedback collected under this generic clearance provides useful 
information for the continued evolution of the CA program, but it may 
not yield data that can be generalized to the overall population in all 
instances. Our qualitative data collection activities--follow-up 
interviews and case studies--are designed to investigate outlier CA 
teams or CA teams that demonstrate exceptional performance or 
successfully overcome significant challenges in their work with the CA. 
While the web surveys, which will be deployed at different times during 
the program, will collect data that will help the EAC monitor trends 
over time and assess overall program performance, the follow-up 
interviews and case studies will gather supplemental data that is more 
specific to individual CA teams.
    As a general matter, this information collection will not include 
questions of a sensitive nature, such as sexual behavior and attitudes, 
religious beliefs, and other matters that are commonly considered 
private.
    Below we provide NSF's projected average estimates for the next 
three years:
    Affected Public: Individuals and households, Businesses and other 
for-profit organizations, Not-for-profit institutions, Federal 
government.
    Average Expected Annual Number of Activities: 10.
    Respondents: 300 per activity.
    Annual Responses: 6,000.
    Frequency of Response: Once per request.

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    Average Minutes per Response: 30-60.
    Burden Hours: 4,135.
    Comments: 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 those who are 
to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated, 
electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or 
other forms of information technology.

    Dated: February 14, 2023.
Suzanne H. Plimpton,
Reports Clearance Officer, National Science Foundation.
[FR Doc. 2023-03489 Filed 2-17-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7555-01-P