Supporting Statement A for
Application Forms for the NIDA Summer Research Internship Program
National Institutes of Health
NIH/NIDA/ODHD
December 29, 2015
Name: Albert Avila, Ph.D.
Director, Office of Diversity and Health Disparities
National Institute on Drug Abuse
National Institutes of Health
Address: 6001 Executive Blvd.
Bethesda, Maryland 20892-0234
Telephone: 301-496-8804
Fax: 301-480-8179
Email: [email protected]
Check off which applies:
New
Reinstatement with Change
Reinstatement without Change
Extension
Emergency
Existing
In Use without OMB Number
A. JUSTIFICATION
A.1 Circumstances Making the Collection of Information Necessary 3
A.2. Purpose and Use of the Information COLLECTION 3
A.3 Use of Information Technology and Burden Reduction 4
A.4 Efforts to Identify Duplication and Use of Similar Information 5
A.5 Impact on Small Businesses or Other Small Entities 5
A.6 Consequences of Collecting the Information Less Frequently 5
A.7 Special Circumstances Relating to the Guidelines of 5 CFR 1320.5 5
A.8 Comments in Response to the Federal Register Notice and Efforts to Consult Outside Agency 6
A.9 Explanation of Any Payment of Gift to Respondents 6
A.10 Assurance of Confidentiality Provided to Respondents 6
A.11 Justification for Sensitive Questions 6
A.12 Estimates of Hour Burden Including Annualized Hourly Costs 6
A.13 Estimate of Other Total Annual Cost Burden to Respondents or Record keepers 8
A.14 Annualized Cost to the Federal Government 8
A.15 Explanation for Program Changes or Adjustments 9
A.16 Plans for Tabulation and Publication and Project Time Schedule 9
A.17 Reason(s) Display of OMB Expiration Date is Inappropriate 9
A.18 Exceptions to Certification for Paperwork Reduction Act Submissions 9
Attachments (save file names to match what is being referenced: (ex: x.baseline; y.screener
LIST OF ATTACHMENTS
Attachment 1 - Student Application Form
Attachment 2 – Example of drop-down Menus in Student Application Form
Attachment 3 – Privacy Act Memo
A. Justification
Abstract:
This is a request for approval of an existing Collection that is in use without an OMB Control Number. It was discovered that application forms for the NIDA Summer Research Internship Program were being used without OMB Clearance from the Paperwork Reduction Act, in 2015 and in earlier years. The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), seeks to rectify this by applying for clearance for the application forms for this program so that the information collection for this program will be in compliance with the Act from now on. These applications are essential to the administration of these training programs as they enable NIDA to determine the eligibility and quality of potential awardees; to assess their potential as future scientists; and to make decisions regarding which applicants will be proposed and approved for traineeship awards. In each case, completing the application is voluntary, but in order to receive due consideration, the prospective trainee is encouraged to complete all relevant fields. The information is for internal use to make decisions about prospective fellows and students that could benefit from the NIDA Summer Research Internship Program.
A.1 Circumstances Making the Collection of Information Necessary
NIDA requests a three-year clearance for the application forms to be used by its Summer Research Internship Program. This program recruits high school and undergraduate individuals from underrepresented populations into a summer internship program of the Institute for research training and development in substance abuse research.
The NIDA Summer Research Internship program introduces high school and undergraduate students of underrepresented populations to substance abuse research through internships with NIDA grantees at universities across the United States and Puerto Rico. Students intern with NIDA principal investigators for 8-10 weeks during the summer. The internship experience may include laboratory experiments, formal courses, data collection, data analysis, patient recruitment, manuscript preparation, literature reviews and library research. This outreach and pipeline program exposes students interested in biomedical and behavioral research careers to cutting edge substance abuse research.
The legal authority granted to NIH to train future biomedical scientists comes from several sources. Title 42 of the U.S. Code, Sections 241 and 282(b)(13) 282 (11)B authorize the Director, NIH, to conduct and support research training for which fellowship support is not provided under Part 487 of the Public Health Service (PHS) Act (i.e., National Research Service Awards), and that is not residency training of physicians or other health professionals. Sections 405(b)(1)(C) of the PHS Act and 42 U.S.C. Sections 284(b)(1)(C)] and 285-287 grant this same authority to the Director of each of the Institutes/Centers at NIH. And 2 US Code 293c, Chapter 6, SubChapter V. Part B, Educational assistance in the health professions regarding individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds.
The purpose of the proposed information is to for the selection of the best applicants for the NIDA Summer Research Internship Program. Application forms obtain information about the potential of interns for successful training are necessary, and NIDA will request clearance for any additional forms should new programs be introduced in the future.
The information ensures that students applying to this program meet basic eligibility requirements; specifies their interest in substance abuse research, future career goals, and the research they would like to conduct. The information enables decision-making regarding which applicants will be selected for internships. In each case, completing the application is voluntary, but in order to receive due consideration, the prospective applicant must complete all information fields required by the program.
Information included in the forms can be:
Personal information (name, date of birth, gender, race, ethnicity (Hispanic or non-Hispanic);
Eligibility information (citizenship);
Contact information (current address, e-mail, phone number, permanent mailing address); If under 18 years of age parent or guardian name, phone number, email address is required;
Educational history (current school (high school/college or university), expected graduation date, academic major/minor, grade point average);
Reference information (name, title, organization, phone number, email, relationship to applicant, letter of recommendation);
Statement of Research Career Interest
Resume (name, education, research experience, skills, work and volunteer experience, publications, presentations, awards / honors, extracurricular activities, qualifications, transcripts);
Research site selection and summer schedule conflicts
Question on how they learned of the program.
The NIDA staff review the completed applications to determine which applicants will be selected to participate in the program. In the application, applicants select three research sites where they are interested in taking the training, NIDA matches selected interns with one of their site choices and works with the host site to coordinate the logistics of the summer internship. Participating research sites are sent the contact information of the summer intern (no confidential information such as race, ethnicity, or gender is sent to the host site).
The demographic information collected will only be used internally at NIDA to monitor the success rate for all racial, ethnic, and gender groups that apply for the summer internship program. These data will be reviewed and analyzed internally by NIDA staff for the purpose of performance analysis, future planning, and program improvement. Only aggregate conclusions will be shared with external stakeholders – no individual, personally identifiable information will be shared or used outside of NIDA.
A.3 Use of Information Technology and Burden Reduction
The applications are Web based and will be accessible through the NIDA Web site: https://www.training.nih.gov., or http://www.drugabuse.gov/about-nida/organization/offices/office-diversity-health-disparities-odhd#research. A Privacy Impact Assessment will be conducted annually, if the NIH Privacy Act Office indicates this is necessary. The information requested is for the purpose of identifying the best interns for this program among all applicants.
Features of the online applications include, but are not limited to the following elements:
Editable submitted application until the application deadline
E-mail notice to referee for letter of recommendation request
E-mail confirmation of successful submission of application, and recommendation letter submitted from each reference
Reminder email to submit letter of recommendation
E-mail notification of application status
In addition, prospective interns will be able to review Web pages hosting Application /Directions, research site selections (http://www.drugabuse.gov/sites/default/files/sposummer.pdf), and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs, https://nidaextshare.nida.nih.gov/SRP/Forms/FAQs.doc) prior to submitting an application for admission consideration. The details posted on the site will enable applicants to carefully complete and submit a well-organized application. The estimated time to complete an application is approximately 60-minutes, based on the PHS398 completed by applicants to other training programs.
The NIDA online system reduces the burden on every applicant by streamlining the application process, improves agency efficiency and responsiveness to the public, and reduces the financial cost to applicants (there is no application fee for this program).
Applicants to the program must submit a completed application through the NIDA system because there are no duplicate sources available to collect the information needed by this program about applicants.
No small business or other small entities will be affected by this program. Every effort has been made to streamline processes and instructions and to simplify the applications and reporting processes. NIDA’s internal clearance process ensures that no undue burden is placed on any applicant for this program.
This program is implemented annually. Each year a new set of participants is selected. The information is collected only once a year for the award selection purposes. It cannot be collected less frequently.
This information collection is consistent with these guidelines. Submitting an application to this program is voluntary.
Notification of information collection for this training program was published, in the Federal Register Notice, on September 2, 2015, Vol. 80, No. 170, on page 53164. During the 60-day notice, no comments were received.
The application form for this training program has been developed and vetted for clarity and burden by the NIDA Director of the Office of Diversity and Health Disparities, Dr. Albert Avila, and cooperating NIDA staff.
A.9 Explanation of Any Payment of Gift to Respondents
No payments or gifts are provided to respondents for completing the application form.
A.10 Assurance of Confidentiality Provided to Respondents
The information collected is available to NIDA staff via an internal SharePoint site. The staff includes science program officials and analysts who review and evaluate applications that are assigned to them by the Program Director. Access to the SharePoint site will be via protected login credentials. Applicants and referees are provided a link to the application site and will enter their information after establishing login credentials that include "strong" passwords that conform to standards used by the NIH Center for Information Technology. Applicants will have access to only their own applications once they have been uploaded to the site. Letters of recommendation that are submitted to NIDA will be entered into the internal NIDA SharePoint site, and this site has restricted access.
Privacy is assured to the extent provided by law. The information is collected and maintained in accordance with the DHHS Automated Information Systems Security Program Handbook. For all applications the software used is on an internal shared NIH server residing inside the NIH firewall.
A.11 Justification for Sensitive Questions
No sensitive information on sexual orientation, risk behaviors, religious beliefs, or other personal matters is asked. Race, ethnicity, gender, age, and residency status information is asked for the purpose of determining applicant eligibility and for monitoring program success.
A.12.1 Estimated Annualized Burden Hours
The estimated time to complete the online summer internship applications is 60 minutes, based on the PHS398 completed by applicants to other training programs. The number of completed applications expected is 350 based on the number of applicants that were received in the previous year.
A.12-1. Estimated Annualized Burden Hours
Form Name |
Type of respondent |
Number of respondents |
Number of responses per respondent |
Average burden per response (in hours) |
Total Annual Burden Hours |
Application Form |
High School Students |
100 |
1 |
1 |
100 |
Application Form |
Undergraduates |
250 |
1 |
1 |
250 |
Total |
|
350 |
|
|
350 |
A.12-2 Annualized Cost to Respondents
A.12-2 Annualized Cost to the Respondents:
Type of Respondent |
Number of Respondents |
Number of Responses per Respondent |
Average Burden Per Response (in hours) |
Hourly Wage Rate* |
Respondent Cost |
High School Students |
100 |
1 |
1 |
$7.25 |
$725.00 |
Undergraduates |
250 |
1 |
1 |
$7.25 |
$1,813.00 |
Total |
350 |
|
350 |
|
$2538.00 |
*Current reported minimum wage—according to: http://www.dol.gov/whd/minimumwage.htm
A.13 Estimate of Other Total Annual Cost Burden to Respondents or Record Keepers
There are no capital costs, operating costs, application fees, or maintenance costs to report.
The total cost to the Federal Government for this program is approximately $361,869 per year as detailed in the table below:
Staff |
Grade/Step |
Salary |
% of Effort |
Fringe (if applicable) |
Total Cost to Gov’t |
Federal Oversight |
|
|
|
|
|
NIDA Program Oversight Officer |
15:3 |
$134,662 |
20% |
|
$26,932.00 |
NIDA Program Analyst |
9:9 |
$66,710 |
50% |
|
$33,355.00 |
NIDA IT Supervisor |
13.10 |
$90,823 |
10% |
|
$9082.00 |
Contractor Cost |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Intern Travel |
|
|
|
|
$32,000.00 |
Other Cost (Stipends to Applicants) |
|
|
|
|
$260,000.00 |
Operational Costs for Data Collection Activities –Printing, equipment, overhead), non-labor |
|
|
|
|
$500.00 |
Other Contractual costs for data collection, non-labor |
|
|
|
|
NA |
Travel costs associated with data collection |
|
|
|
|
NA |
Other costs, non-labor |
|
|
|
|
|
Total |
|
|
|
|
$361,869.00 |
A.15 Explanation for Program Changes or Adjustments
This is an existing collection in use without an OMB Control Number. The collection was conducted once in each year, since the inception of the Program approximately 20 years ago. This request is to rectify the Program’s previous use of the forms without OMB Clearance from the Paperwork Reduction Act. The information collection is necessary to make the best selection of trainees for this important Program.
A.16 - 1 Project Time Schedule |
|
Activity |
Time Schedule |
Letters sent to respondents |
6 weeks after OMB approved program application deadline |
Analyses |
5 months after OMB approved program launches |
Publication |
no earlier than 6 months after OMB approved program launches |
The
OMB control number and expiration date will be displayed.
There are no exceptions to the Certification for Paperwork Reduction Act Submissions.
| File Type | application/msword |
| Subject | Supporting Statement A |
| Author | Lopez, Maria (NIH/NICHD) [E] |
| Last Modified By | Abdelmouti, Tawanda (NIH/NCI) [E] |
| File Modified | 2016-02-10 |
| File Created | 2016-02-10 |