Pmf

Brenda,

 

Below please find the clarifications you requested yesterday regarding our PMF clearance, 3206-0082.

 

Mary Beth

 

Mary Beth Smith-Toomey

OPM Forms, PRA, Records and GPEA Officer

U.S. Office of Personnel Management

Center for Information Services

Plans and Policies Group

Washington, DC  20415-7900

Voice - 202-606-8358

FAX - 202-418-3251

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-----Original Message-----
From: Timmins, Rob
Sent: Thursday, November 08, 2007 9:22 AM
To: Smith-Toomey, Mary Beth
Cc: Pollack, Leslie J; Brown, Eric C.
Subject: RE: PMF

 

Mary Beth,

 

As requested, the following is in response to OMB’s questions regarding our clearance package of the OPM Form 1300:

 

1.  The information below indicates that this is a "regular" submission (i.e., 60 day + 30 day comment periods, in accordance with the PRA.)  However, in item #8 and #17 of the supporting statement it says that OPM is requesting emergency clearance.  The justification appears to be based on the previously submitted collection, so not sure if this is just an error. Please clarify.  I need to know if clearing for 6 months or potentially 3 years.

 

The PMF Program Office is requesting clearance for 3 years.  The justification previously submitted was in error and based on the emergency clearance submitted last year.  The correct responses to items #8 and #17 appear below:

 

 

8.       If applicable, provide a copy and identify the date and page number of publication in the Federal Register of the agency notice, required by 5 CFR 1320.8(d), soliciting comments on the information collection prior to submission to OMB.

 

The comment period was combined in the previous Federal Register Notice, which was published on October 5, 2006 [FR Doc. E6-16437].  No comments were received.

 

17.   If seeking approval to not display the expiration date for OMB approval of the information collection, explain the reasons that display would be inappropriate.

 

Not applicable.  This request is to obtain the maximum 3-years’ approval from OMB.  The OPM Form 1300 will slightly change annually to reflect the class year version at the top of the form in efforts to prevent any confusion for applicants and Nomination Officials since the application to the PMF Program is conducted annually.

2.  Please provide the cost information for item 14.  Elsewhere it indicates $165,000.  Assuming this is correct.

The approximate cost of $165,000 is correct.  Below is a copy of the correct justification for item #14 below:

 

14.   Provide estimates of annualized cost to the Federal government.  Also, provide a description of the method used to estimate cost, which should include quantification of hours, operational expenses (such as equipment, overhead, printing, and support staff), and any other expense that would not have been incurred without this collection of information.

 

Annual maintenance costs are approximately $165,000 to partner with the USAStaffing program office to track, monitor, and process the qualifications questionnaire of the vacancy announcement; track and adjudicate any claims for Indian and/or veterans’ preference; validate nomination forms; and, provide staff support during the application, assessment, and selection process.

 

We are partnering with the USAJOBS program office to host the vacancy announcement and provide the nomination form during the application cycle.  There are no additional costs for this.

3.  Please provide a quick paragraph summarizing the changes to the collection since last approval, including a brief discussion of the problems associated with using email to contact nominating officials at the schools.  This can be along the lines of our discussion.  I need it for the record and for expediting clearances from colleagues here.

OPM has revamped the application to the PMF Program as a vacancy announcement via USAJOBS so applicants can also apply for other Federal jobs through one source (per OMB’s request from the last clearance).  In addition, applicants will be required to utilize USAJOBS’ Resume Builder to provide prospective hiring agencies a consistent format and for applicants to use in applying for other Federal jobs through USAJOBS.  Updates to applicant resumes will be much easier in order to provide to prospective hiring agencies if applicants are ultimately selected as Finalists to obtain an appointment as a Presidential Management Fellow.

 

The Nomination Form is a customized fax-back teleform that applicants will provide to their school’s Nomination Official to render a nomination decision.  Upon submission of application, the applicant is prompted to print the pre-populated teleform and hand-deliver to their Nomination Official.  This ensures the applicant takes an active role in delivering their request to be nominated versus relying on an automated email that may or may not be delivered.  We have experienced many occasions where the automated emails were treated as SPAM or invalid email addresses were identified and never delivered.  If the Nomination Official decides to nominate said applicant, he/she is asked to provide contact information, sign the form, and fax it to our fax server.  The fax server will utilize Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software to associate the nomination to the applicant’s record.  A quality control process is in place to visually confirm a signed nomination has been received for said applicant.  This teleform approach was created based on the following:  (1) the OPM regulations state that eligible graduate students must be formally nominated, (2) past processes resulted in Nominating Officials who did not read and act on email in a timely manner and therefore prevented their nominees from being included in the PMF Program, (3) prior email notifications were either not delivered or treated as SPAM; (4) USAJOBS does not have a mechanism to allow for nominations since applicants are required to be formally nominated by their schools, use of the teleform is the best solution in order to capture nomination information and automated to associate to an application; and, (5) the teleform is converted to an electronic record associated to the applicant showing said applicant was nominated.  Feedback from some Nomination Officials has been positive in that the teleform provides a consistent format in identifying interested applicants requesting nomination from their schools and that the Nomination Official has a means of providing a hand-written signature as a stamp of approval.  Use of the teleform was implemented in last year’s OMB clearance and was successfully used for the PMF Class of 2007.

 

An additional question was added to the application asking applicants to identify a Geographic Availability preference in order to inform prospective hiring agencies of those areas the applicant is interested in obtaining a PMF appointment.  Agencies will be able to conduct a search by Geographic Availability and applicants will be able to choose more than one preference.

 

 

Please let me know if you have any additional questions.

 

Thanks,

Rob Timmins

606-2674