SUPPORTING STATEMENT - PART A
United States Naval Academy Sponsor Program – 0703-0054
1. Need for the Information Collection
The U.S. Naval Academy (USNA) Plebe Sponsor Program is a unique program offered through the Naval Academy that pairs midshipmen with faculty, staff, and local community area families to provide local support and a “home away from home” for midshipmen that is mutually beneficial to both the midshipman and the sponsor. The program offers midshipmen a mechanism to cope with the rigors of adjusting to the fast-paced military life at the Academy while giving the sponsors the opportunity to learn about the Naval Academy and the military, and to support the midshipmen by opening their home to them as a safe place to decompress. This information collection is needed in order to determine the eligibility and overall compatibility between sponsor applicants and fourth class midshipmen/Plebes (equivalent to freshmen at civilian institutions) at the United States Naval Academy. In their first year, midshipmen desiring to participate in the program are assigned a sponsor from the local community area. An analysis of the information collected is performed by the Sponsor Program Officer in Charge (OIC) in order to best match sponsor with a midshipman. Without this information collection, the Sponsor program would not be able to determine if a sponsor family was “safe” to place a midshipman with nor appropriately match the interests of the midshipman with those of the sponsor family. This could result in midshipmen staying with unsafe families and an overall ineffective and inefficient program.
The collection of the information is authorized by:
10 U.S.C. 5013 – Secretary of the Navy
10 U.S.C. 8041 – Headquarters, Marine Corps
10 U.S.C. 10212 – Gratuitous services of officers: authority to accept
DoDI 1322.22 – Service Academies
USNAINST 1531.59 – Plebe Sponsor Program (draft)
Will replace COMDTMIDNINST 1531.5S – Plebe Sponsor Program
2. Use of the Information
Those interested in becoming a USNA Plebe Sponsor may visit the USNA Sponsor Program webpage on the public USNA website (https://www.usna.edu/Sponsor/index.php). Here they can learn about the program through frequently asked questions and apply via the online application. The Naval Academy does not advertise this program directly, but most applicants learn about the program through existing sponsors. All applicants must submit the electronic application. Applications can be filled out once per year when the applications are typically open (January 1-July 15).
Sponsors must be at least 28 years old and reside in the Tri-City Metropolitan Area (Baltimore, Washington, and Annapolis including localities on the Eastern Shore). A sponsor may sponsor up to four Plebes per year. Once a sponsor has filled out the electronic application, applicants will receive a prospective sponsor letter from the system letting them know their application was received and assigning them a sponsor number for future correspondence. A sample of this email is included with this package. Applicants will undergo background checks before they are accepted into the program. Applicants will fill out SECNAV Form 5512 (OMB Control Number 0703-0061) to gain base access, and the Plebe Sponsor Program Director will complete a separate check via “Been Verified” to supplement the background check conducted for base access, ensuring the sponsor family does not have criminal offenses, such as sex, physical abuse, violent crimes, or a history of alcohol offenses that would make it unsafe for midshipmen to be placed in the home. Upon a successful background screening, the prospective sponsor will be notified via a letter that they have or have not been selected to participate in the sponsor program. A sample of those letters are included in this package. Before officially becoming a sponsor, the sponsor selected must attend a mandatory training brief where they will sign a “Sponsor Training Acknowledgement,” acknowledging their responsibilities as a sponsor. They will also fill out and sign a USNA 1531/5 Gratuitous Service Agreement, acknowledging that they are providing their services with no expectation of pay, entitlement, or other benefit. These documents are not subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act, but are included as supplementary documents in this information collection request.
Sponsors are assigned to their respective midshipman until the midshipman’s graduation from the Naval Academy, are removed from the program (sample letter provided with this package), or decide they would no longer like to be a sponsor. Sponsors must attend the training briefing once every three years to maintain an active sponsor status.
3. Use of Information Technology
In order to minimize the burden to the respondent, the Naval Academy has designed the forms in a manner that enables the sponsor candidate to complete the application on-line by going to the USNA Sponsor website. Once the respondent completes the information, it is submitted on a secure server/database and password protected in a separate portion of the Midshipmen Information System (MIDS) system. The data can only be accessed by the Sponsor Program Director. Data is never printed. 100% of submissions are electronic.
4. Non-duplication
The information obtained through this collection is unique and is not already available for use or adaptation from another cleared source.
5. Burden on Small Businesses
This collection, of information does not impact small businesses or other small entities.
6. Less Frequent Collection
The information is updated yearly by the applicant to keep current contact information. An e-mail is sent out to all of the sponsors to update their information. The information is collected once a year because the data requires annual updates.
7. Paperwork Reduction Act Guidelines
This collection of information does not require collection to be conducted in a manner inconsistent with the guidelines delineated in 5 CFR 1320.5(d)(2).
8. Consultation and Public Comments
Part A: PUBLIC NOTICE
A 60-Day Federal Register Notice for the collection published on Tuesday, May 31, 2022. The 60-Day FRN citation is 87 FR 32396.
No comments were received during the 60-Day Comment Period.
A 30-Day Federal Register Notice for the collection published on Thursday, September 8, 2022. The 30-Day FRN citation is 87 FR 54986.
Part B: CONSULTATION
No additional consultation apart from soliciting public comments through the 60-Day Federal Register Noticed was conducted for this submission.
9. Gifts or Payment
No payments or gifts are being offered to respondents as an incentive to participate in the collection.
10. Confidentiality
A required Privacy Act Statement is displayed at the beginning of the collection tool, USNA 1531/12 Sponsor Application.
A draft copy of the SORN (N01531-2, USNA Voluntary and Gratuitous Service Records) has been provided with this package for OMB’s review.
A copy of the approved PIA, Midshipmen Information System (MIDS), is included in this package.
Disposition is pending until the National Archives and Records Administration has approved retention and disposition schedule, treat as temporary (Records are temporary and destroyed when business use ceases (DAA-GRS-2016-0016-0001, SF 115 submitted 7/14/21)).
11. Sensitive Questions
No questions considered sensitive are being asked in the collection.
12. Respondent Burden and its Labor Costs
Part A: ESTIMATION OF RESPONDENT BURDEN
Collection Instrument
Sponsor Application
Number of Respondents: 800
Number of Responses Per Respondent: 1
Number of Total Annual Responses: 800
Response Time: 1 hour
Respondent Burden Hours: 800 hours
Total Submission Burden
Total Number of Respondents: 800
Total Number of Annual Responses: 800
Total Respondent Burden Hours: 800 hours
Part B: LABOR COST OF RESPONDENT BURDEN
Collection Instrument
Sponsor Application
Number of Total Annual Responses: 800
Response Time: 1 hour
Respondent Hourly Wage: $17.33
Labor Burden per Response: $17.33
Total Labor Burden: $13,864
Overall Labor Burden
Total Number of Annual Responses: 800
Total Labor Burden: $13,864
Used General Manager at Payscale.com to estimate respondent wage (https://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=General_Manager/Salary).
13. Respondent Costs Other Than Burden Hour Costs
There are no annualized costs to respondents other than the labor burden costs addressed in Section 12 of this document to complete this collection.
14. Cost to the Federal Government
Part A: LABOR COST TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
Collection Instrument
Sponsor Application
Number of Total Annual Responses: 800
Processing Time per Response: 1 hour
Hourly Wage of Worker(s) Processing Responses: $29.44
Cost to Process Each Response: $29.44
Total Cost to Process Responses: $23,552
Overall Labor Burden to the Federal Government
Total Number of Annual Responses: 800
Total Labor Burden: $23,552
Top of GS-9 pay, https://www.federalpay.org/gs/2022/GS-9)
Part B: OPERATIONAL AND MAINTENANCE COSTS
Cost Categories
Equipment: $0
Printing: $0
Postage: $0
Software Purchases: $0
Licensing Costs: $0
Other: $13,600 (background check)
Total Operational and Maintenance Cost: $13,600
Part C: TOTAL COST TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
Total Labor Cost to the Federal Government: $23,552
Total Operational and Maintenance Costs: $13,600
Total Cost to the Federal Government: $37,152
15. Reasons for Change in Burden
There is no change in requested time burden from the last time this collection received OMB approval. The slight change in respondent labor burden was from the annual salary increase from 2019 pay scales to 2022 pay scales.
16. Publication of Results
The results of this information collection will not be published.
17. Non-Display of OMB Expiration Date
We are not seeking approval to omit the display of the expiration date of the OMB approval on the collection instrument.
18. Exceptions to “Certification for Paperwork Reduction Submissions”
We are not requesting any exemptions to the provisions stated in 5 CFR 1320.9.
| File Type | application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document |
| Author | Kaitlin Chiarelli |
| File Modified | 0000-00-00 |
| File Created | 2022-09-09 |