Supporting Statement for Pilot test the exit survey of participants in the National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Experience

Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for the Collection of
Routine Customer Feedback” (OMB Control Number: 3145-0215)
TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION:
Pilot test the exit survey of participants in the National Science Foundation (NSF) Research
Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Program
PURPOSE:
The purpose of the exit or participant survey is to learn about participant experiences in the
National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program and
the International Research Experiences for Students (IRES) program. The survey was designed as a
brief pulse check taken at the end of the research experiences to produce representative estimates
useful for program monitoring. The survey will be voluntary and administered every fall, as most
research experiences take place during the summer. Findings will be available to NSF through a
dashboard.
The survey will be tested with REU participants through the REU data system. Additional questions
or adaptations for IRES participants are indicated in the survey instrument and will not be tested at
this time. In fall 2019, participants in the REU Sites that used the REU data system common
application to submit their applications for the summer 2019 REU program will receive an email
inviting them to complete this online survey.
The survey includes questions designed to:
 Facilitate monitoring of project offerings and activities and how implementation evolves
over time (questions 2 to 11)
 Understand the ways in which the program might influence students’ career plans and
aspirations (questions 12 to 15)
 Measure students’ satisfaction with the program (questions 16 to 18)
 Obtain recommendations for improvements (question 19)
The survey is intentionally short to encourage participation and yield the high response rates
required to produce representative estimates, overall and by subgroups of interest (such as discipline
and gender).

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DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS:
Respondents are current undergraduate students who will participate in the REU program during
summer 2019 in REU Sites in Engineering and Mathematics.
TYPE OF COLLECTION: (Check one)
[X] Customer Satisfaction Survey
[ ] Small Discussion Group
[ ] Other: ______________________

[ ] Customer Comment Card/Complaint Form
[ ] Usability Testing (e.g., Website or Software
[] Focus Group
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:__Suzanne H. Plimpton, NSF Reports Clearance Officer_______________________
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 [X] No
3. If Applicable, has a System or Records Notice been published? [ ] Yes [ ] 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
Participants
Totals

No. of
Respondents
468
468

2

Participation
Time
0.17 hours
0.17 hours

Burden
80 hours
80 hours

Explanation:
Participants: We expect to have 468 survey recipients. There are 39 REU Sites that used the REU
data system common application during the 2019 application cycle for the REU program (27 Sites in
Engineering and 12 Sites in Mathematics). Each Site is expected to host 12 students during the
summer 2019 program. The survey contains a total of 18 items for REU students, most of which are
multi-choice or ask respondents to fill a box with a number. Based on past experience, we expect
that the survey will take about 10 minutes to complete.
FEDERAL COST: The estimated annual cost to the Federal government is $139,751.
Explanation:
This estimate includes the cost to develop the survey instrument, program the survey to be
administered through the REU data system, and provide helpdesk support for system users during
data collection.
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?
Explanation:
We will obtain information on all 2019 summer participants through the reports submitted by
Principal Investigators through the REU data system. We will survey the universe of participants in
those Sites that used the REU data system’s common application to ensure we obtain responses from
students of different background characteristics and can produce valid estimates.
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

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