Final - Support Statement (DS-7006)

4

SUPPORTING STATEMENT FOR
PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT SUBMISSION

Exchange Programs Alumni Website Application
OMB Number 1405- 0192
DS-7006

A. JUSTIFICATION

1. Each year, the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) manages the exchange programs for more than 65,000 people from around the world. ECA’s Office of Alumni Affairs manages the International Exchange Alumni website (https://alumni.state.gov), an online community for alumni of U.S. Government-sponsored exchange programs.

The information is sought pursuant to the Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act of 1961, as amended (the Fulbright-Hays Act)(22 U.S.C. 2451 et seq.) in order to process alumni requests for access to the Department of State International Exchange Alumni website.

2. The information will be used by ECA’s Office of Alumni Affairs to set up online user accounts for exchange alumni who wish to access the International Exchange Alumni website. Once a user account is activated, the same information may be used for contests, competitions, and other public diplomacy initiatives in support of Embassy and foreign policy goals. This is a voluntary information collection for alumni of U.S. Government-sponsored exchanges.

3. The information collection is web-based, via an online application. Interested alumni register at the following URL: https://alumni.state.gov/user/register.

4. Currently, no duplication of effort exists; there isn’t another reliable method for the ECA Office of Alumni Affairs to collect the information needed for website registration.

5. This collection of information does not have an impact on small businesses or other small entities.

6. Without the information collection, ECA would not be able to provide alumni of USG exchange programs access to the International Exchange Alumni website.

7. There are no special circumstances associated with this collection.

8. On November 3, 2016, ECA published a notice in the Federal Register seeking public comments on this proposed collection. 81 FR 76685. One comment was received, but it was not substantive and no changes will be made pursuant to the comment.

9. No gifts or payments will be made to respondents.

10. The International Exchange Alumni website requires certain personal information for participation. Data may also be for program planning and management purposes.

The Department of State will not sell or rent user email address or other personal information for unsolicited marketing. The Department of State does not release information to any outside companies, organizations, or governments, nor to any third parties not directly involved with exchange programs funded by the U.S. government.  International Exchange Alumni is owned by the U.S. government and we may disclose personal information if required by a subpoena, judicial or administrative order, or as otherwise required by law to assist government enforcement agencies.

Users on the site may manage their own privacy settings by selecting their preferences on the profile, upon successful completion of the form.

The full International Exchange Alumni website privacy policy can be found at https://alumni.state.gov/about-international-exchange-alumni/benefits-joining/terms-service/privacy-notice.

11. No questions of a sensitive nature are asked.

12. Last year (September 1, 2015 – August 31, 2016) approximately 5,000 members joined the International Exchange Alumni website by filling out the entire manual registration form, while 41,000 members joined the site through a more automated process with an expedited two minute form upon account activation. This is an annual burden of approximately 2,200 hours, a reduction of 967 hours since the initial approval.

Time Frame	Last Approval	Current Approval
Number of Respondents	19,000	5,000	41,000
Amount of Time to Complete Form	10 minutes	10 minutes	2 minutes
Total Burden Hours*	3,167 hours	833 hours	1,367 hours
Burden Cost per Respondent Group**	$112,491.84	$27,089.16	$44,454.84
Total Burden Cost	$112,491.84	$71,544
Difference Since Last Approval	N/A	-$40,947.84

*Number of Respondents multiplied by the amount of time to complete each form

** Average wage of $23.23/hour multiplied by 1.4 (to account for overhead costs) and by total hour burden

13. There is no cost to respondents associated with this collection.

14. The time/cost burden to the federal government is explained in the following chart.

Time Frame	Last Approval	Current Approval
Number of Staff Members	9	1
Time Devoted per Week	2 hours per person	6 hours per person
Percentage of year	5% per person (2 hours per week x 52 weeks = 104 hours / 2,087 hours in a federal work year = 4.98%)	15% per person (6 hours per week x 52 weeks = 312 hours / 2,087 hours in a federal work year = 14.94%)
Average Annual Wage per Person (GS-11 or equivalent)	$55,000/year	$55,000/year
Total USG Cost	$24,750.00 per year (5% of 55,000 = $2,750 x 9 =$24,750)	$8,250.00 per year (15% of 55,000 = $8,250)
Change since last approval	N/A	-$16,500.00

15. The burden changes indicated are associated with an increased number of alumni joining the website as compared to when initial collection approval was sought, as well as a procedural change in registration for the majority of alumni. In the initial approval, burden was estimated at 3,167 hours, based on 19,000 alumni joining the site with a burden of 10 minutes each. Burden for the year September 1, 2015 – August 31, 2016 would have been approximately 7,666 hours, based on the number of individuals that joined the site during that time (approximately 46,000). However, with increased registration by automation conducted by staff in the ECA Alumni Affairs Office for the majority of alumni using the site, rather than manual registration on the part of the alumni, burden was reduced to just 2,200 hours. Approximately 5,000 alumni were required to fill out the entire form, while the other 41,000 alumni had accounts created for them, and could opt in to filling out a shorter form with the account already created. Other changes to the form included a greater explanation of contact preferences, as well as a third choice for gender, which is no longer a required question.

16. The information gathered by this collection will not be published.

17. ECA Alumni Affairs Office will display the OMB expiration date.

18. ECA Alumni Affairs Office does not request an exception to the certification of the information collection.

B. COLLECTION OF INFORMATION EMPLOYING STATISTICAL METHODS

This collection does not employ statistical methods.