The agency is
reminded that the cost burden to be reported for the IC is the
burden to the respondents, not to the Federal government. Federal
government burden is reported as ICR data. The agency must also
review its Federal Enterprise Architecture Line of Business.
Inventory as of this Action
Requested
Previously Approved
10/31/2007
6 Months From Approved
10,000
0
0
5,325
0
0
0
0
0
1. The Peace Corps Office of Domestic
Programs builds awareness of the continuing benefits that former
Peace Corps Volunteers bring back to the United States after their
service. The Office of Domestic Programs activities and
publications support section 2 of the Peace Corps Act, which states
that one of the agencys missions is to promote a better
understanding of other peoples on the part of all Americans.
Coverdell World Wise Schools was established in 1989 in order to
bring the cross-cultural experience of Peace Corps Volunteers into
the classrooms of the United States. Within the purview of
Coverdell World Wise Schools, the Correspondence Match program
connects an educator with a Peace Corps Volunteer serving overseas.
The correspondence between the Volunteer, the educator, and his or
her students is used to foster classroom activities and learning
experiences relating to the Volunteers country of service and the
Peace Corps. In order to participate in the program and be matched
with a Volunteer, the educator must complete the Correspondence
Match Enrollment Form. 2. The Correspondence Match Enrollment Form
is the first point of contact with the participating educator. It
is the World Wise Schools fundamental source of information from
educators. Information to be collected includes educator name,
school name, school address (including street number, city, state,
and zip code), school phone, home phone, e-mail address, grade
taught, subject area taught, number of students to participate in
the program, educators preferences (including specific Volunteer
name and country of service and geographic region of service),
composition of school student body, description of school, and
permission to release information. Respondents include educators
interested in promoting global education in the classroom. The
information is used to make a suitable match between the educator
and a Peace Corps Volunteer. The information will be collected by
mail. The information will be collected annually on a continuous
basis and with permission may be shared with the media, Congress,
returned Volunteer groups, educational institutions, and other
government agencies. 3. Currently there is no accessible
information technology available that would reduce the collection
burden. 4. The collection of information does not impact small
businesses or other small entities. 5. This information cannot be
collected less frequently than annually, nor does similar
information exist, since each year a substantially different groups
of educators may participate in the program. 6. There are no
special circumstances. Collection will be conducted in a consistent
manner with CFR 1320.6 guidelines. a. The collection does not
require respondents to report information to the agency more often
than quarterly. b. The collection does not require respondents to
prepare a written response in fewer than 30 days after receipt. c.
The collection does not require respondents to submit more than an
original or facsimile copy of the form. d. The collection does not
require respondents to retain records for more than three years. e.
The collection is not designed to produce valid and reliable
results that can be generalized to the universe of study. f. The
collection does not require the use of a statistical data
classification that has not been reviewed and approved by the
Office of Management and Budget. g. The collection does not include
a pledge of confidentiality. h. The collection does not require
respondents to submit proprietary trade secrets or other
confidential information. 7. There has been no decision to provide
any payment or gift to respondents. 8. There is no assurance of
confidentiality provided to respondents. 9. Affected public:
Primary 10. Obligated to respond: Voluntary 11. Number of
Respondents: 10,000
Peace Corps and the
Office of Management have undergone significant changes (i.e.,
departure of Designated/Delegated Approval Officials for Paperwork
Reduction Act Submissions, cancellation of yearly activities, and
large transitions of employees out of Peace Corps), that have
profoundly affected many programs, staff activities, employees, and
protocol of services. The re-assignment of the Director of Peace
Corps left many OMB Information Collection submissions at a
standstill. The Directors approval, forewords and welcome
statements are standard and required on several Peace Corps
Volunteer brochures, applications, and surveys, prior to
disbursing. Due to uncertainty as to when a replacement for the
Director would be named, all correspondence requiring his approval
and signature was suspended. The Office of Management, and its
supporting staff/activities (i.e., Administrative Services;
Records/Forms Management Programs and OMB Information Collections,
etc.), have been profoundly affected by a shortage of employees,
and the abrupt departures of both the Associate Director for
Management, and the Chief of the Administrative Services Division.
The Office of Management was left without the Delegated/Designated
Approval Official for the approval and signature of all Federal
Register Notices and Information Collection Packages prior to
submission. The Administrative Services Division suffered a loss of
the Staff Assistant to the Records Management Officer; who also
oversees and manage all facets of the Records and Forms Management
Programs, and holds the position of the Paperwork Reduction Act
(PRA) Officer, for submission of OMBs Information Collections.
Compliance reports (i.e., IG Audit, NARAs E-Gov Initiatives,
etc.), further delayed routine activities. The records, forms and
PRA programs are solely managed by the Records Officer. The
management of these programs was performed by the Records Officer,
in addition to the requirement to train all in-coming new
employees, and individual staff activities on record keeping
requirements. Todate, a new Associate Director for Management has
been hired, a new Chief of Administrative Services is due to assume
his duties in early February, and a new staff assistant for the
records/forms management programs has been hired. Efforts are being
made to come into compliance with OMB and other agency
requirements. With full leadership and the additional hiring of
employees in Administrative Services, efficient and timely efforts
will be put forth to get Peace Corps into full compliance with OMB
requirements for submission and approval of Information Collection
Requests. Therefore, I am requesting that an emergency approval for
a continuous three (3) year expiration date be granted. I request a
three year expiration date, as opposed to the routine short-term
date for emergency requests, due to the cost of reproducing this
ICR. This enrollment package will be outsourced to a printing
vendor and mailed to over 10,000 educators. This service is very
expensive, and having a short-term expiration date will not be cost
effective. In accordance with the requested approval date of
February 5, 2007, all required documents (i.e., 60 and 30 days
Federal Register Notices), are provided.
Burden decrease is due to
changes in the program, management leadership, and shortage of
employees to continue the enrollment processes for this
program.
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that
the collection of information encompassed by this request complies
with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR
1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding
the proposed collection of information, that the certification
covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a
benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control
number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of
these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked
and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.
0420-0513 Supporting Statement1.doc
Correspondence Match Enrollment Form