Fast-Track Template T32 Program

Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for the Collection of Routine Customer Feedback” (OMB Control Number: 0925-0668)

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: Customer Satisfaction Survey on NIAID’s Institutional Research Training Grant (T32) program

PURPOSE:

The Division of DEA of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) has participated in the Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Institutional Research Training Grant (T32) program for over three decades. NIAID is interested in knowing grantees’ overall satisfaction with the T32 mechanism. It is also of interest to obtain information regarding key aspects of the funding mechanism that are particularly helpful or challenging. This survey is part of a customer satisfaction assessment to examine the NIAID 180 Institutional Research Training Programs implementation and grantees’ perceptions to date.

This survey is part of a larger effort to seek feedback from our T32 grantees. The results from the survey will be used two-fold: The information will help us to focus the discussion topics that will be brought forward at an upcoming face-to-face meeting with T32 Program Directors in December 11-12^th, 2014. Furthermore, we would like to use the results to inform us to improve our drafts of future T32 funding opportunity announcement.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS:

The respondents are T32 Principal Investigators (PIs) who are responsible for directing the respective institutional research training programs. NIAID’s T32 portfolio encompasses a large variety of grant programs, each led by a principal investigators/program director. It is important to collect the customer feedback from a broad range of our programs in order to capture the full breadth of information related to this grant mechanism. Some of the PIs have led the programs for many years (10+ years), some of the PIs have only recently assumed the leadership role of their T32 grant. Each one of the grantees/PIs has a unique perspective through leadership of the respective institutional research training program.

TYPE OF COLLECTION: (Check one)

[ ] Customer Comment Card/Complaint Form [ X] Customer Satisfaction Survey

[ ] Usability Testing (e.g., Website or Software [ ] Small Discussion Group

[ ] Focus Group [ ] Other: ______________________

CERTIFICATION:

I certify the following to be true:

1. The collection is voluntary.

2. The collection is low-burden for respondents and low-cost for the Federal Government.

3. The collection is non-controversial and does not raise issues of concern to other federal agencies.

4. The results are not intended to be disseminated to the public.

5. Information gathered will not be used for the purpose of substantially informing influential policy decisions.

6. The collection is targeted to the solicitation of opinions from respondents who have experience with the program or may have experience with the program in the future.

Name:____ Katrin Eichelberg, PhD

DHHS, NIH, NIAID, DEA

To assist review, please provide answers to the following question:

Personally Identifiable Information:

1. Is personally identifiable information (PII) collected? [ ] Yes [x ] No

2. If Yes, is the information that will be collected included in records that are subject to the Privacy Act of 1974? [ ] Yes [ x ] No

3. If Applicable, has a System or Records Notice been published? [ ] Yes [ x] No

Gifts or Payments:

Is an incentive (e.g., money or reimbursement of expenses, token of appreciation) provided to participants? [ ] Yes [x ] No

ESTIMATED BURDEN HOURS

Category of Respondent	No. of Respondents	No. of Responses per Respondent	Time per Response (in hours)	Total Burden Hours
Individuals (Academia)	126	1	20/60	42
Totals	126	1	20/60	42

FEDERAL COST: The estimated annual cost to the Federal government is a $2,500 one-time cost.

If you are conducting a focus group, survey, or plan to employ statistical methods, please provide answers to the following questions:

The selection of your targeted respondents

1. Do you have a customer list or something similar that defines the universe of potential respondents and do you have a sampling plan for selecting from this universe? [x ] Yes [ ] No

If the answer is yes, please provide a description of both below (or attach the sampling plan)? If the answer is no, please provide a description of how you plan to identify your potential group of respondents and how you will select them?

The survey will be emailed to all of our 180 T32 PIs/grantees who currently hold active NIAID T32 awards. NIAID’s T32 portfolio encompasses a large variety of grant programs, each led by a principal investigators/program director. It is important to collect the customer feedback from a broad range of our programs in order to capture the full breadth of information related to this grant mechanism. Hence, the survey will be emailed to each one of our current T32 grantees. We estimate that approximately 70% of the PIs will respond to our survey (total responses expected 126 respondents).

Administration of the Instrument

1. How will you collect the information? (Check all that apply)

[ ] Web-based or other forms of Social Media

[ ] Telephone

[ ] In-person

[ ] Mail

[ x ] Other, Explain: the information will be collected via email

2. Will interviewers or facilitators be used? [ ] Yes [ x ] No