Mini SSA

Supporting Statement A for

NCI’s Center for Cancer Training Application Form for Graduate Student Recruitment Program (CCT NCI)

January 15, 2016

Name: Ofelia A. Olivero

Address: 9609 Medical Center Drive-MSC 9707-2W108

Telephone: 240-276-6890

Email: oliveroo@exchange.nih.gov

Table of Contents

A.1 Circumstances Making the Collection of Information Necessary

A.2. Purpose and Use of the Information COLLECTION

A.3 Use of Information Technology and Burden Reduction

A.4 Efforts to Identify Duplication and Use of Similar Information

A.5 Impact on Small Businesses or Other Small Entities

A.6 Consequences of Collecting the Information Less Frequently

A.7 Special Circumstances Relating to the Guidelines of 5 CFR 1320.5

A.8 Comments in Response to the Federal Register Notice and Efforts to Consult Outside Agency

A.9 Explanation of Any Payment of Gift to Respondents

A.10 Assurance of Confidentiality Provided to Respondents

A.11 Justification for Sensitive Questions

A.12 Estimates of Hour Burden Including Annualized Hourly Costs

A.13 Estimate of Other Total Annual Cost Burden to Respondents or Record

keepers

A.14 Annualized Cost to the Federal Government

A.15 Explanation for Program Changes or Adjustments

A.16 Plans for Tabulation and Publication and Project Time Schedule

A.17 Reason(s) Display of OMB Expiration Date is Inappropriate

A.18 Exceptions to Certification for Paperwork Reduction Act Submissions

Attachments

Attachment 1- Student application Screen shot

ATTACHMENT 2-Refernce Recommendation Letter Screenshots

ATTACHMENT 3-applicant’s Pilot survey

ATTACHMENT 4-Applicant’s email message

ATTACHMENT 5- Contributor’s pilot survey

ATTACHMENT 6-Contributor’s email message

A.1 Circumstances Making the Collection of Information Necessary

 

The National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) Center for Cancer Training (CCT) supports NCI's goal of training cancer researchers for the 21st century. To support that goal, CCT plans to host a two-day Graduate Student Recruitment Program (GSRP) event held on the main NIH campus in Bethesda, MD for graduate students. The purpose of this event is to recruit outstanding young scientists to postdoctoral positions at the NCI.

The legal authority granted to NIH to train future biomedical scientists comes from several sources.  Title 42 of the U.S. Code, Sections 241 and 282(b)(13) authorize the Director, NIH, to conduct and support research training for which fellowship support is not provided under Part 487 of the Public Health Service (PHS) Act (i.e., National Research Service Awards), and that is not residency training of physicians or other health professionals.  Sections 405(b)(1)(C) of the PHS Act and 42 U.S.C. Sections 284(b)(1)(C)] and 285-287 grant this same authority to the Director of each of the Institutes/Centers at NIH. 

The formative research process is used to determine whether or not a draft message or message concept is effective in reaching and communicating with its audience. (0925-0046 Expiration Date 5/31/2016) , SSA Section A.2) Pretesting involves presentation of draft messages designed to convey specific information to a sample of the audience for whom the materials are intended. These respondents will inform about their experience using the system. Information collected to determine the level of customer satisfaction with products helps NCI identify strategies for improving the accessibility of materials/programs, their user-friendliness, and their relevance.

This information collection request is for a pilot program of the Graduate Student Recruitment Program (GSRP). This pilot program will be used to evaluate the usability of the application. The data collection is a detailed questionnaire focused on the process of completing the application. The questions will be able to evaluate the usability of the application as well as the efficiency of the system. It is expected that the applicants provide their feedback through the questions and the application could be improved by their answers. The effectiveness could also be enhanced by the reports received by the individuals responding to the questionnaire.

Identification of participants to matriculate into the program comes from applications and related forms hosted through the CCT Website. The purpose of the application (Attachment 1 and Attachment 2) is to assure that prospective trainees to the GSRP Program meet basic eligibility requirements; to assess their potential as future scientists; to determine where mutual research interests exist; and to make decisions regarding which applicants will be eligible and invited to attend the Program. In order to receive due consideration, the prospective trainee must complete all required fields.

A.2 Purpose and Use of the Information Collection

This request is for a pilot test involving approximately 150 applications for the GSRP in order to collect input on the application and review processes. The request includes a survey for applicants (Attachment 3) and those who participate in the submission of recommendation letters, defined as contributors (Attachment 5). The primary purpose of the pilot is to assess the clarity of the instructions for the application system and whether there are any unintended consequences.

The application is used to recruit prospective trainees to the GSRP Program. The CCT applications utilize many of the following information fields:

• Personal information (name, date of birth, fluencies);

• Eligibility information (citizenship, certification questions, previous or current affiliation with NIH, trainee status);

• Contact information (mailing, e-mail, phone for current, permanent and future address);

• Training program selection;

• Scientific discipline interests (research interests, medical entity/disease);

• Educational history (university, academic major, attendance dates, degree awarded/anticipated);

• Employment history and interests (type of employment, organization, department, address, title);

• Reference information (name, contact information, waive access);

• Resume components (cover letter, research experience, publications, presentations, awards / honors, extracurricular activities, personal statement / research proposal);

• Dissertation research information; sensitive information (gender, race, ethnicity, marital status, disability)

The pilot will be able to evaluate the capacity of the application to attract those candidates who meet basic eligibility requirements. The pilot will be administered electronically through email, to applicants (Attachment 1) and individuals submitting letters of recommendation (Attachment 2). The pilot will be used to collect feedback about the usability of the application. Electronic email will be used to request completion of the forms (Attachment 4 and Attachment 6). Once the electronic form is completed, the form will be emailed back to the team.

A.3 Use of Information Technology and Burden Reduction

The CCT application is web based and accessible through the CCT website. The pilot survey will also be administered using an email invite (Attachment 4 and 6) and completed in a computer document. The form will then be emailed back to the team.

A Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) has been submitted and is underway.

A.4 Efforts to Identify Duplication and Use of Similar Information

This information will not be collected anywhere else and is unique to this program.

A.5 Impact on Small Businesses or Other Small Entities

No Small Businesses or other small entities will be affected by this information collection.

A.6 Consequences of Collecting the Information Less Frequently

This is a one-time information collection.

A.7 Special Circumstances Relating to the Guidelines of 5 CFR 1320.5

This information collection is consistent with these guidelines. Individuals that submit an application to CCT do so voluntarily.

A.8 Comments in Response to the Federal Register Notice and Efforts to Consult Outside Agency

No outside agency has been consulted.

A.9 Explanation of Any Payment of Gift to Respondents

No payments nor gifts will be distributed to individuals.

A.10 Assurance of Confidentiality Provided to Respondents

All information will be kept private to the extent provided by law. Additionally, principal investigators of the NCI will be able to have access to the applications. These individuals are assigned login credentials, including "strong" passwords that conform to standards used by the NIH Center for Information Technology, and the online tools these individuals use to access applicant data are restricted to CCT-approved users. Applicants receive login credentials. Also, references submit their letters of recommendation via a password-protected website.

A.11 Justification for Sensitive Questions

No sensitive questions are contained in this information collection. Personally Identifiable Information (PII) is collected including: name, contact information, education, and employment history. Federal regulations for the protection of human subjects do not apply to this activity.

A.12 Estimates of Hour Burden Including Annualized Hourly Costs

The total annualized burden hours are 251 for 300 respondents. The estimated time to complete the pilot questions for both the student and recommender groups is 5 minutes. The CCT online application for students will take approximately 60 minutes to complete. The estimated time to complete the CCT online recommendation form is 30 minutes.

The following table displays the estimated hour burden included for this information collection.

Table A12-1. Estimated Annualized Burden Hours:

Form	Type of Respondent	Estimated Number of Respondents	Estimated Number of Responses Annually Per Respondent	Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours	Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours
Student Application (Attachment 1)	Student Applicants	150	1	1	150
Reference Recommendation Letters (Attachment 2)	Contributor	150	1	30/60	75
Pilot Survey (Attachment 5)	Contributor	150	1	5/60	13
Pilot Survey (Attachment 3)	Student Applicants	150	1	5/60	13
	Total	300	600		251

The annualized cost to respondents is $7,086.19. The following table indicates the annualized cost to respondents. The hourly wage rates were taken from the Bureau of Labor Statistic’s site. Students do not have an hourly rate listed with the Bureau of Labor Statistics; therefore, we used the occupation title “Graduate teaching assistant”, occupation code 25-1191, http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes251191.htm. The Reference Recommendation Letters would be completed by professors. The wage rate used to calculate this cost is occupation title Professors, occupation code 25-1040, http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_nat.htm#25-0000.

A12.2 Table Annualized Cost to Respondents

Form	Type of Respondents	Annual Burden Hour	Hourly Wage Rate	Respondent Cost
Student Application	Student Applicant	150	$12.29	$1,843.50
Reference Recommendation Letters	Contributor	75	$57.79	$4,319.75
Pilot Survey	Student	13	$12.29	$159.77
Pilot Survey	Contributor	13	$57.59	$748.67
Total		251		$7,086.19

A.13 Estimate of Other Total Annual Cost Burden to Respondents or Record Keepers

There are no capital costs, operating costs, or maintenance costs to report.

A.14 Annualized Cost to the Federal Government

The annualized cost to the Federal Government for the proposed data collection effort is estimated to be approximately $91,376. The federal personnel are responsible for the testing of the side, and administration of the applications. The contractor tasks include the design and implementation of the application, including troubleshooting of the initial phase.

Table 14.1 Annualized Cost to the Federal Government

Staff	Grade/Step	Salary	% of Effort	Fringe (if applicable)	Total Cost to Gov’t
Federal Oversight
Project Officer	14/10	$139,523	5%		$6,976.15
Contractor Cost
IT Application Development					$84,400
Travel					$0
Other Cost					$0
Total					$91,376

A.15 Explanation for Program Changes or Adjustments

This is a generic sub-study.

A.16 Plans for Tabulation and Publication and Project Time Schedule

Results will be tabulated after the completion of the survey. The results from this pretesting and any publications or presentations are not generalizable or used to make broad, expansive conclusions from this sample size.

The study time schedule is outlined in Table A.16-1.

Table A16-1. Study Time Schedule

Activity	Months after OMB Approval
Recruit participants (collect information)	Month 0 – 3
Complete Study (final participants)	Month 4
Clean data and run analyses	Months 5 & 6
Summarize results	Month 7

A.17 Reason(s) Display of OMB Expiration Date is Inappropriate

The OMB expiration date will be displayed.

A.18 Exceptions to Certification for Paperwork Reduction Act Submissions

There are no exceptions to the Certification for Paperwork Reduction Act Submissions.

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