0710-0154_ssa_8.17.2018

SUPPORTING STATEMENT – PART A

DoD National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Program – 0701-0154

1.  Need for the Information Collection

The National Defense Science and Engineering (S&E) Graduate (NDSEG) Fellowships program provides 3-year fellowships to students enrolled in PhD programs of interest to the Department of Defense. Awards are under the authority of 10 USC 2191 (copy attached). The request for applications is necessary to screen applicants and to evaluate and select students to award fellowships. Approximately 180 awards are given each year. DoD does not handle or process any applications (paper or electronic). They are all handled by contractors or third party vendors.

2.  Use of the Information

The application period is open from September to December annually for current and incoming graduate students. During this time, applicants electronically submit the following: application, university transcripts, Graduate Record Examination (GRE) scores, recommendation letters, student goals etc. Once the application packet is received, it’s vetted through a selection panel made up of volunteer evaluators (academia, government, and industry scientists and engineers) where the top 40% are selected as possible NDSEG recipients. Information is used by the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), the contractor selected to administer the program, to down-select the eligible applicants by means of a peer review panel. The information is also used by scientists of the Air Force, Army, and Navy, to make the final selection of awardees. Solutions Through Innovative Technologies (STI-T) was awarded the contract on 15 August 2017 and took over responsibilities to manage the program. All information collected by ASEE on fellowship class 2017 was transferred to STI-T.

Awardees will be required to provide ASEE with personal information such as Social Security Numbers, Bank Account transfer codes, etc., to receive direct-deposit payments of their stipends and required reporting to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

The information (voluntary) collected on gender, race, ethnicity or handicap is used in meeting DoD needs for data to permit response to Congressional and other inquiries into equity issues. Aggregated data will be used. Data specific to individuals will not be accessed.

Application instructions and forms may be downloaded from http://www.ndsegfellowships.org/. The 2019 application will open September 4t. Application instructions will be available at that time.

3.  Use of Information Technology

Applications for NDSEG fellowships are 100% done by electronic submission via contractor portal. Academic transcripts are received directly from universities by mail. No DoD systems are used. There is not a SORN or PIA required.

4.  Non-duplication

The information obtained through this collections is unique and is not already available for use or adaption from another cleared source.

5.  Burden on Small Business

This information collection does not impose a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small businesses or entities.

6.  Less Frequent Collection

Awards are granted annually. The pool of potential applicants is continually changing as new students become eligible to apply. Non-receipt of information to evaluate and award fellowships would mean that approximately 195 students would not receive fellowships. Funding appropriated by Congress would not be awarded.

7.  Paperwork Reduction Act Guidelines

This collection of information does not require the collection to be conducted in a manner inconsistent with the guidelines delineated in 5 CFR 1320.59(d)(2).

8.  Consultation and Public Comments

Part A: PUBLIC NOTICE

A 60-Day Federal Register Notice (FRN) for the collection published on Thursday, May, 17. The 60-Day FRN citation is 83 FRN 22964.

No comments were received during the 60-Day Comment Period.

A 30-Day Federal Register Notice for the collection published on Friday, August 17, 2018.  The 30-Day FRN citation is 83 FRN 41067.

Part B: CONSULTATION

No additional consultation apart from soliciting public comments through the Federal Register was conducted for this submission.

9.  Gifts or Payment

No payments or gifts are being offered to respondents as an incentive to participate in the collection.

10.  Confidentiality

The announcement and the electronic application process for the NDSEG program contain a Privacy Act Statement (included in attached Application Instructions) which specifies the use of the information in evaluating and selecting the awardees. It further advises that voluntary demographic information may be used in the aggregate for evaluating equity issues. No personnel information is released to the public.

A System of Record Notice (SORN) is not required for this collection because records are not retrievable by PII.

A Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) is not required for this collection because PII is not being collected electronically.

Keep in current file area until no longer needed for conducting business, but not longer than 6 years, then destroy. 

11.  Sensitive Questions

Application information collected on gender, citizenship, race, ethnicity, or disability is collected voluntarily and in a separate section of the electronic submission to the contractor. Only aggregated data is used for required reports and equity issues. This information will be maintained by STIT (current contractor for NDSEG).

12.  Respondent Burden, and its Labor Costs

Estimation of Respondent Burden Hours
	Number of Respondents	Number of Responses per Respondent	Annual Responses	Response Time	Respondent Burden Hours
NDSEG Online Application	3,577	1	3,577	12 hours	42,924
Total	3,577	1	3,577	12 hours	42,924

Labor Cost of Respondent Burden
	Number of Responses	Response Time per Response	Respondent Hourly Wage	Labor Burden per Response	Total Labor Burden
NDSEG Online Application	3,577	12 hours	$16.49	$197.88	$707,816.78
Total	3,577	12 hours	$16.49	$197.88	$707,816.78

13.  Respondent Costs Other than Burden Hour Costs

There is no cost to the applicant above the expense of preparing and submitting the application.

Total and capitol startup costs are included in the administrative services fee annually allowing for the website and other software needed for data collection, storage facilities as well as the daily administrative management to effectively run the program.

Total operation and maintenance costs include the monthly distribution of stipends/benefits to fellows, tuition payment, and all other operational needs.

14.  Cost to the Federal Government

No work is done by government employees. The original budget for the 2017 evaluation projected honoraria costs for 375 panelists. However, the evaluation was successfully completed with 267 panelists, 206 (non-government) of which were eligible for an honorarium payment. The panelists who participated in the evaluation and were eligible for an honorarium payment earned $250.00 for their service. Based on this, NDSEG saved a total of $42,250.

Operational and Maintenance Costs
Equipment	Printing	Postage	Software Purchases	Licensing Costs	Other	Total
$2753.90	0.00	0.00	$238.59	0.00	0.00	$2992.49

Equipment/Software	Quantity	Function
File Server	2	Storage of documents for the NDSEG program
Backup Server	1	Backups documents and database data
Domain Controller	1	Primary (Software Included)
Domain Controller	1	Secondary (Software included)
Staging Server (Test)	1	Test server for application development
Front End Web Servers	2	Front end webservers
Virtual Machine Server	1
Back End Servers	2	MySQL and Storage
Load Balancer	1
SpamTitan	1
Phone System (PBX)	2
Firewall	1	Includes Software
Exchange Server		Includes Software
Remove Server	1
Microsoft Office	2	Included in PC/Laptop Purchase Price
Windows 7/10	2	Included in PC/Laptop Purchase Price
SpamTitan		Software
PC	1
Monitor	1
Ruby Monitoring Tool	1
Laptop	1

Total Cost to the Federal Government
Operational and Maintenance Costs	Labor Cost to the Federal Government	Total Cost (O&M Costs + Labor Cost)
$2,992.49	$0	$2,992.49

15.  Reasons for Change in Burden

The program remains the same but the number of applicants may increase/decrease annually. In 2017, there was an increase of 468 respondents/applicants from the previous year.

16.  Publication of Results

ASEE provides annual reports on Former Fellows Status Report (November), Annual Academic and Current Fellows Status Report (October), and NDSEG Panelist Nominations Report (October). STI will provide annual reports on Former Fellows Status Report (September), Annual Academic and Current Fellows Status Report (October), and NDSEG Panelist Nominations Report (January).

17.  Non-Display of OMB Expiration Date

We are not seeking approval to omit the display of the expiration date of the OMB approval on the collection instrument.

18.  Exceptions to "Certification for Paperwork Reduction Submissions"

We are not requesting any exemptions to the provisions stated in 5 CFR 1320.9.

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