OITE-ChangesRequest 0299

November 21, 2012

TO: Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs

Office of Management and Budget

THRU: Department of Health and Human Services

Office of the Chief Information Officer

Office of Resources Management

FROM: Mikia Currie

Program Analyst

Project Clearance Branch

SUBJECT: Non-Substantive Change Request for 0925-0299

Title: NIH Office of Intramural Training & Education Application

Expiration Date: March 31, 2014

The NIH Office of Intramural Training & Education (OITE) wishes to submit a change request to our current OMB Clearance 0925-0299, expiration date March 31, 2014. This submission was recently approved for use by the OITE for the various training programs and opportunities to prospective intramural trainees. http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAViewICR?ref_nbr=201102-0925-005

Recently, the OITE had a situation that resulted in the Office of General Council (OGC) recommending both the Summer Internship Program (SIP) and Postbaccalaureate/Technical Program (PBT) applications be modified to prevent nepotism, as directed by the NIH Nepotism Chapter Manual: http://oma.od.nih.gov/manualchapters/person/2300-310-1/.  

The current configuration of the ‘Relative at NIH’ information fields (see Figure 1) do not provide the necessary information for the OITE to generate reports to ensure, to the best of our ability, compliance with the Nepotism Chapter Manual.

Figure 1. Current Configuration of the Relative at NIH Information Fields

Therefore, the OITE wishes to reconfiguration the Institute-Center question to be an open field in which applicants can enter the name and IC of each relative, as defined by the Chapter Manual (see Figure 2). Investigators searching the applications for prospective trainee appointments will not have access to the relative names, only select OITE staff members will have access.

Figure 2. Proposed Configuration of the Relative at NIH Information Fields

See attachments: OITE-SIP-Nov2012.pdf and OITE-PBT-Nov2012.pdf.

Upon clicking the ‘Help: Definition of Relative’ button the following text will become visible, as defined by the Chapter Manual:

An individual who is related to an employee as a father, mother, son, daughter, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, first cousin, nephew, niece, husband, wife, grandchild, grandparent, father-in-law, mother-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, stepfather, stepmother, stepson, stepdaughter, stepbrother, stepsister, half brother, half sister, or legal guardian. This further includes ‘domestic partner,’ as used by the U. S. Office of Personnel Management in its decisions to extend certain Federal Entitlements to individuals determined to be domestic partners of Federal Employees.

The OITE does not anticipate significant change to the respondent burden for the proposed modification.

Enclosed you will find copies of the proposed modification to both the Summer Internship Program (SIP) and Postbaccalaureate/Technical Program (PBT) applications. Should you have any questions or concerns regarding this request, please contact me at your earliest convenience.

Best regards,

Patricia KM Wagner, PhD

Director of Admissions & Registrar

Graduate Partnerships Program

Office of Intramural Training & Education

National Institutes of Health

Department of Health & Human Services

2 Center Drive: Building 2 / Room 2E06

Bethesda, Maryland 20892-0234

Cell: 240-476-3619

Fax: 301-594-9606

Email: [email protected]

Web: https://www.training.nih.gov/