Reqest for Approval

Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for the Collection of Routine Customer Feedback” (OMB Control Number: 0920-0974)

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: CDC Fellowship Applicant Customer Satisfaction Survey

PURPOSE:

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) seeks to obtain Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval to collect feedback for the application process for the Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) and the Laboratory Leadership Service (LLS) classes of 2020. EIS is a 2-year fellowship in applied epidemiology that recruits and selects 60-80 officers per year from an application pool of approximately 400 applicants. LLS is also a 2-year fellowship in biosafety and quality management for laboratory leaders that recruits nearly 10 officers from a pool of about 70 applicants. For both fellowships, applicants apply through an online application system, which requires applicants to gather materials (e.g., unofficial transcripts, letters of recommendation) and information (e.g., work and volunteer experience). Submitted applications undergo an eligibility review, application review, and then suitable applicants are invited to in-person interviews before a final class is selected. In 2019, there were fewer overall applications submitted for the EIS and LLS Classes of 2020, and there was an increase in the number of applications started, but not submitted, from previous years. The goal of this survey is to understand the reasons why potential EIS and LLS applicants started but did not submit an application. This information collection will be used by the EIS and LLS programs to refine the application process and provide recommendations to improve fellowship recruitment processes.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS:

Respondents to the CDC Fellowship Applicant Customer Satisfaction Survey (Attachment 1, Survey Word document and Attachment 2, Survey Screenshots) will be the EIS and LLS Class of 2020 applicants who started but did not submit an applicant and who provided an email address. No personally identifiable information (PII) will be collected; should any respondents provide PII, it will not be retained.

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: Wences Arvelo, MD, MSc

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 [ ] 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

The survey will be web-based and includes 6 questions. Respondents will take approximately 5 minutes to complete the survey through Survey Monkey. This estimate is based on piloting the survey with three CDC staff. We are seeking approval to collect feedback from approximately 500 non-federal individuals. Given 500 respondents with a response time of 5 minutes each, the total response burden will be 42 hours. There will be no direct costs to the respondents other than their time to respond to the survey.

Category of Respondent	No. of Respondents	Participation Time	Burden
Individuals	500	5/60	42 hours
Totals			42 hours

FEDERAL COST:

The average annualized cost to the Federal Government to collect this information is $1,001.10. This estimate is based on the time required for one FTE (GS-13) to supervise and for one Fellow to design the survey, develop the web-based survey, implement the survey, analyze the data, and develop recommendations based on the results.

Staff or Contractor	Hours	Average Hourly Rate	Cost
Fellow (GS-9 Equivalent)	30	$25.92	$777.60
FTE (GS-13)	5	$44.70	$ 223.50
Totals			$1,001.10

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? [ ] Yes [x] No

The individuals who started but did not submit an EIS and LLS application for the 2020 classes will be invited to participate in the CDC Fellowship Applicant Customer Satisfaction Survey. By August 2019, an invitation email (Attachment 3, Invitation Email) with a link to the survey will be sent to the applicants for the EIS and LLS Classes of 2020 (1) who started but did not submit an application, and (2) who provided an email address. Respondents will be given 3 weeks to respond to the survey. Respondents will have to complete the survey in one sitting as the survey tool does not allow respondents to return to edit or complete the survey. The survey does not track individual responses. A reminder email (Attachment 4, Reminder Email) will be sent three times: one email at the beginning of week 1, one email at the beginning of week 2, and the final email on the day the survey closes.

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

2