Request for Approval for External Stakeholder Feedback on NSF Communications

Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for the Collection of Routine Customer Feedback” (OMB Control Number: 3145-0215)

T ITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION:

External Stakeholder Feedback on NSF Communications

PURPOSE: To obtain from NSF external stakeholders their views and needs regarding NSF communications. The NSF Director established a Communications Task Force in March 2011 to review NSF internal and external communications activities and to make recommendations on how to improve and strengthen NSF outreach to all NSF constituencies. This survey would provide NSF useful information and insight into what areas of NSF external communications are working well and where NSF can improve.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS: The anticipated respondents serve on one or more of NSF’s advisory committees and/or review panels. They usually are from academia although some are from industry; almost all are scientific, engineering or STEM education experts. The respondents are not limited to a specific geographic region but come from across the country. NSF relies on the judgment of advisory committee members to review and provide feedback on NSF programmatic as well as business and operations activities. Panel reviewers, who provide narrative comments and assessments of research proposals submitted to NSF, are an essential component of NSF’s merit review process and interact directly with NSF program staff and NSF information technology systems.

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:________________________________________________

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

Personally Identifiable Information:

1. Is personally identifiable information (PII) collected? [ X ] Yes [ ] No (Respondents would be able to provide on a voluntary basis PII.)

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

BURDEN HOURS

Category of Respondent	No. of Respondents	Participation Time	Burden
Private sector	35	15 minutes	8.75
Totals	35	15 minutes	8.75

FEDERAL COST: The estimated annual cost to the Federal government is $2,000.00___

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 pool of possible respondents is based upon current NSF advisory committees membership lists or participation in upcoming NSF review panels. Notification of the survey will be sent to all advisory committee members. Responding is voluntary. For a similar effort conducted in 2009 concerning NSF’s strategic plan, 15 percent of the advisory committee members submitted comments on the proposed draft strategic plan. For a survey conducted within the past year of NSF outreach event attendees, the response rate was less than 5 percent. It is anticipated that the overall response rate for this effort will fall into the 5-15 percent range. Three-to-six review panels to be convened this fall will be targeted randomly. The reviewers in the targeted panels will be made aware of the survey during the course of their panel reviews.

Administration of the Instrument

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

[ X ] Web-based or other forms of Social Media

[ ] Telephone

[ ] In-person

[ ] Mail

[ ] Other, Explain

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

Please make sure that all instruments, instructions, and scripts are submitted with the request.