Form 1 Data Portal Web Survey

OMB No. 3135-0130
Expires 4/30/2014
NASAA Partnership Data Portal Project

Web Survey
Introduction
Information is being collected to assess the feasibility of creating an online system (the “Portal”)
to report Final Descriptive Report (FDR) data to the NEA and NASAA and to study ways to make
the process of FDR reporting more streamlined, robust and timely. The information will be used to
assess whether such an online system is feasible, and if so, to recommend potential options and
specifications for such a system. The exploration of the feasibility of a potential Portal is in no way
associated with any current federal reporting systems such as grants.gov.
We estimate the time required to fill out the following web-based survey will be fifteen (15)
minutes.
Participation is voluntary. We do believe there is a benefit for the survey respondents or their
organizations. The Portal, if implemented, should make reporting FDR data simpler, faster and
with fewer errors. Also, the system might have additional features that would facilitate the sharing
of information internally as well as with the public once implemented.
The data gathered from this survey will be shared with the NEA and NASAA. About 30-60 days
after the survey’s release, we will share the findings of the feasibility study and present the
concept for the online system through a web seminar or similar method. All of the survey
respondents will be invited to participate and give feedback, although this will not be required.
No sensitive information is being requested.
Basic “Portal” Concept
The NEA and NASAA are studying ways to improve the FDR reporting process. The concept
presently under consideration is an online “Portal” to allow you to submit the data into a webbased system instead of sending the information through e-mail as an attached file or through
mail copied onto a disk.
Here is –theoretically- how a portal could work:


Your agency would be given an account on the Portal whereby you could sign-in and
upload the data file you presently mail to the NEA and NASAA.



The Portal would perform certain minimum data validation checks and flag potential
errors found in the data. You would be able to review and change the data as
appropriate. You would also be able to view the data in certain standard tabular formats.

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Possibly, some data visualization options, such as mapping and bar charts, could be
available to you, if the data met certain validation thresholds.



After having a chance to review your data through the standardized checks, tables and
charts/maps, an appropriately authorized user would be able to submit the dataset to the
NEA and NASAA by clicking a button.

Survey Questions
1. Agency name
2. Title
3. Additional features for the Portal could be incorporated either initially or over time, but as a
minimum configuration, what is your level of interest in the system as described above?
 Strong interest
 Some interest
 No interest
 Open response field: “Please elaborate on your response.”
4. Please describe any potential concerns you have about the Portal concept and any advice
you have for NASAA and the NEA in exploring this concept.
a. Open response field
5. Has your ability to track and report FDR data become more or less streamlined over the few
years? Or stayed the same?
 No change
 More streamlined
 Less streamlined
 Open response field: “Please elaborate on any change in your organization. What factors
have contributed to it?”
6. Aside from the possibility of a portal, what steps have you thought about to streamline FDR
reporting for your organization?
 Open response field.

7. What data would you like to collect but currently do not that would make it easier to carry out
the mission of your organization? How might that information be captured and presented?
 Open response field.
8. Would it be useful, on an optional basis, to include additional information in the FDR reporting
process, such as the program name of the individual grant record or the name of the grant
officer responsible for the individual grant record? This optional information would not be
passed on as the part of the final FDR report but would be used to help you review the data
for accuracy.
 Yes, it would be useful to include additional information.
 No, it would not be useful to include additional information.
 Open response field: “If yes, what other data might helpful to upload along with the FDR
fields to provide context in your review data for accuracy?”
9. Below are some possible reports or graphs that might be available to you on the Portal after
you complete the FDR process. Could you rank how useful these reports might be to your
organization?

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

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Maps [Options should have either fields next to each into which the user could enter rank
numbers, or drop-down menus containing possible rank numbers.]
o Grants by state and federal legislative district
o Grants by county
o Grants by MSA
Pie charts [Options should have either fields next to each into which the user could enter
rank numbers, or drop-down menus containing possible rank numbers.]
o Grants by program name
o Grants by institution type
o Grants by type of activity
Multi-year trend analysis [Options should have either fields next to each into which the
user could enter rank numbers, or drop-down menus containing possible rank numbers.]
o Total number of grants made over past years
o Total grant amounts made over past years
o Number of grants and total grant amounts by program name over past years
o Similar multi-year trend analysis against a composite index of comparable states
o Similar multi-year trend analysis against a national benchmark index

10. Do you have suggestions for other graphs or reports from the Portal about FDR data that
could be helpful to you?
 Open response field.
11. If you uploaded records to the Portal, and it identified blank fields or other data errors, how
helpful would the following types of data reviews be before submission to the NEA and
NASAA? [Options should have either fields next to each into which the user could enter rank
numbers, or drop-down menus containing possible rank numbers.]
 Email the relevant grant officer his or her relevant records to review and update the data.
 Print out the relevant records, highlighting the potential need for updating.
 View the relevant records on screen in a table with the relevant fields highlighted. Each
highlighted area in the table would allow you to click through to view the detailed record
and allow you to update that record.
12. What steps in the FDR process in your organization prove most difficult? How could a Portal
potentially help?
 Open response field.