Supporting Statement

OMB Control #0693-0033

Expiration Date: 07/31/2022

NIST Generic Clearance for Program Evaluation Data Collections

NIST SURF “Fellow” Feedback Survey.

FOUR STANDARD SURVEY QUESTIONS

1.Explain who will be surveyed and why the group is appropriate to survey.

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Program provides an opportunity for the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) laboratories (at both the Gaithersburg and Boulder campus locations) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) to join in a partnership to encourage outstanding undergraduate students to pursue careers in science and engineering. The program provides research opportunities for students to work with internationally known NIST scientists, to expose them to cutting-edge research and promote the pursuit of graduate degrees in science and engineering. The authority for the SURF Program is 15 U.S.C. 278g-1, which authorizes NIST to fund financial assistance awards to students at institutions of higher learning within the United States.

The survey will be administered to participants of the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship at the end of their appointment. This group is appropriate to survey as they provide accurate input and feedback about the program.

2. Explain how the survey was developed including consultation with interested parties, pre-testing, and responses to suggestions for improvement.

The survey is developed based on the participants’ perspective of laboratory assignment, research project, mentor assignment, seminars, provided housing, and administrative tasks (application process, stipend payment).

3. Explain how the survey will be conducted, how customers will be sampled if fewer than all customers will be surveyed, expected response rate, and actions your agency plans to take to improve the response rate.

The survey is sent to participants electronically (on a NIST approved platform such as Google Survey program) within the final 3 weeks of the program. It is estimated that it will take the participant 40 minutes to complete this survey. The estimated burden hours for this information collection is 147 hours. The Program Office does not recommend a procedure to increase response rates at this time.

The survey allows the participant to voluntarily supply their name and may be kept in a System of Records. A Privacy Act Statement is included on the survey. The information is covered by SORN NIST 1: NIST Associates which is uploaded as a supplementary document.

4. Describe how the results of the survey will be analyzed and used to generalize the results to the entire customer population.

The results of the survey are analyzed by the Program Office and shared with the Operating Units and on-boarding stakeholders (Office of Security, Office of Information Systems Management, Congressional Affairs etc.). The information determines if the program is fulfilling its mission, learn areas of improvement, and justify the need for new procedures/resources.