FINAL - Supporting Statement

SUPPORTING STATEMENT FOR
PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT SUBMISSION

FLO Professional Development Fellowship (PDF) Application
(DS-4297)

OMB Number 1405-XXXX

A. JUSTIFICATION

1. It is necessary to collect information on Professional Development Fellowship (PDF) applicants in order to evaluate who will receive the limited number of fellowships. The information is sought pursuant to 22 U.S.C. § 2651a– Organization of the Department of State, 22 U.S.C. § 3921- Management of the Foreign Service.

2. The information will be used by the Family Liaison Office (FLO) and selection committees to award fellowships.

3. All PDF applications are submitted via email. Applicants will download a PDF version of the application from FLO’s website. One hundred percent of submissions are collected electronically as FLO receives applications from posts around the world. This collection process is quick and efficient for both the applicants and FLO.

4. This collection does not duplicate any other collection of information. This is the only program of its kind that provides fellowships to Foreign Service family members who want to maintain, enhance, and/or develop their professional skills while overseas. The application includes specific information on the applicant’s professional goals as well as how he or she will take advantage of the fellowship opportunity.

5. This collection does not have an impact on small businesses.

6. If the information in the PDF application is not collected, FLO will not be able to conduct the program. The information is needed to evaluate the needs of family members and determine who will be awarded a fellowship based on a specific set of criteria.

7. There are no special collection circumstances.

8. The Department published a notice in the Federal Register on September 26, 2017 (FR 82 44866) soliciting public comment on this information collection. One comment was received.

The commenter is concerned that the Professional Development Fellowship program is an extra benefit that Foreign Service family members do not deserve. He or she feels that due to the availability of work permits overseas, taxpayers should not be responsible for funding the fellowships and family members should be expected to work.

In countries that will not agree upon a Bilateral Work Agreement (BWA) or de facto work arrangement that allows dependents to work, those dependents have few, if any, employment options. Even in those countries with which the U.S. has a BWA or de facto work arrangement there are language and/or cultural barriers that preclude a dependent from seeking work in the host country. More than 50 percent of dependent spouses live in third or developing world countries with minimal local employment opportunities and/or no local professional development/educational institutions. Therefore, the Professional Development Fellowship program was established to provide a very limited amount of funds to a limited number of Foreign Service family members to maintain and support their professional development, primarily through online programs, while posted overseas.

9. Awardees of Professional Development Fellowships receive from $1,000 up to $2,500 on a reimbursable basis for enrichment activities. Awardees self-fund a minimum of 25 percent of the activity upon which the PDF is based.

10. The form will be accompanied by a Privacy Act Statement. The applicable System of Records Notice is STATE-31, Human Resources Records.

11. There are no questions of a sensitive nature.

12. The average time required of each respondent to fill out the PDF application is 2.75 hours. The estimated total annual burden for this collection is:

• 260 (estimated number of respondents) x 165 (minutes) = 715 hours per year.

• The estimated cost to respondents is based on the hourly wage and weighted wage multiplier using these figures:

  • $23.86 (mean hourly earnings based on estimated income per hour from the Bureau of Labor Statistics) x 1.4 (weighted wage multiplier) = $33.40 weighted wage

  • 715 (annual hours) x $33.40 (weighted wage) = $23,881.00 (hour burden cost)

The estimated number of minutes per response is based on a sampling of the time it takes applicants to gather the necessary information, to input it into the applications, to edit and review, and to submit it to FLO.

13. There is no monetary burden to the respondent to complete this collection.

14. The projected annual cost to the Federal Government for this collection is $13,834.60. 

3/4 hour review time for GS-9/5 Employment Specialist @ $62,303yr. = $ 29.85/hr.	x		=	$ 22.39
1/4 hour review time for GS- 12/5 HR Specialists and Foreign Service Officers on selection committee (3 per committee) @ $90,350yr. = $43.29/hr.	x	3	=	$30.82
Total Cost per Application Review				$ 53.21
Estimated Number of Applications per year	x	260
Estimated Annual Cost to Federal Government				$ 13,834.60

15. This is an existing collection in use without an OMB control number.

16. This collection will not be published.

17. The Department of State will display the OMB expiration date.

18. The Department is not seeking exceptions to the certification statement.

B. COLLECTION OF INFORMATION EMPLOYING STATISTICAL METHODS

This collection does not employ statistical methods.