3145-NEW NSF Account Management Supporting Statement DRAFT 2022-09-16

Supporting Statement

Information Collection Request for NSF’s

Account Management Profile

Submitted by

The National Science Foundation

1. JUSTIFICATION

1. CIRCUMSTANCES MAKING COLLECTION OF INFORMATION NECESSARY

The purpose of the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Account Profile is to collect information (contact information, demographic information, and academic/professional information) on Research.gov. This profile will assist the NSF in maintaining a centralized account registration and profile management process for the external research community, persisting across all NSF business applications throughout their research career. The original version of Account Registration and Management Records, NSF-76, was approved for implementation in the Federal Register (FR) [Volume 83, pages 6884-6885, February 15, 2018].

The NSF Account Profile directly benefits researchers by making it easier for them to access and update their information over time, which will be used to pre-populate forms, downstream applications, and databases for users. The NSF Account Profile allows for single sign on (SSO) to downstream NSF business applications and ensures data integrity on the profile, fully managed by the individual researcher. The NSF Account Profile also reduces administrative burden for support professionals by improving efficiencies for internal staff as they review and evaluate NSF programs, facilitate proposal submission, simplify reviewer activities, and provide data for the selection and management of reviewers and related merit review functions.

The National Science Foundation originally documented the authority for maintenance of the system in 2018, under 42 U.S.C. 1870; 44 U.S.C. 3101; this request is to collect this information for a period of three years.

2. HOW, BY WHOM, AND PURPOSE FOR WHICH INFORMATION IS TO BE USED

Information collected as part of the NSF Account Profile (contact information, demographic information, and academic/professional information) on Research.gov will enable program officials to select diverse panels and expand opportunities to increase participation from underrepresented groups and diverse institutions throughout the United States in all NSF activities and programs. The information provided over time will also be used by administrative support professionals to review and evaluate NSF programs, facilitate proposal submission, simplify reviewer activities, and provide data for the selection and management of reviewers and related merit review functions. This information will provide NSF with the necessary data to create dashboards across business applications that allow users to easily access and update their data over time and enable administrators to report on efforts to broaden participation. Additionally, the information collected as part of the NSF Account profile will align with Executive Order (EO) 13988 on Preventing and Combating Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation and the precedent set by the Department of State with the option to select a third gender marker for non-binary, intersex, and gender non-conforming individuals. This additional gender response option is based on the two-part qualitative study coordinated between the Department of State and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The results concluded that “unspecified or another gender identity” is the most appropriate definition. “Unspecified” is also the International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO) standard for third gender markers, aligning efforts with that of the international community, public commenters, and all U.S. citizens regardless of their gender identity.

3. USE OF AUTOMATION

Individuals who register with NSF to obtain an NSF identification number (NSF ID) will prepare, submit, and review information (contact information, demographic information, and academic/professional information) using Research.gov based on their role. By default, users will submit contact information. Upon requesting a principal investigator or reviewer role, additional demographics, professional, and academic information will be gathered electronically. Additionally, it is planned during Fiscal Year 2023 that applicants and current fellows associated with the Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) will enter their demographic information in Research.gov as part of their managing their own profile and NSF ID when they begin a new application or update their existing fellowship. The assigned NSF ID is used throughout the individual’s career in all official interactions with NSF, as applicant, awardee (Fellow, Principal Investigator (PI), co-PI, subawardee, consultant), institutional representative, or in other roles. Research.gov is a modernization of the FastLane system that provides next generation grants management capabilities to carry out NSF and partner agencies’ research missions by enabling organizations and grantees to access a menu of grants management services for multiple Federal agencies in one location.

4. EFFORTS TO IDENTIFY DUPLICATION

Under the NSF Account Profile on Research.gov, the information that registering individuals enter to obtain an NSF ID will persist across NSF business applications and minimize duplicative efforts to data entry. Once gathered for the individual, the NSF Account Profile is intended to replace other interim information collection efforts across NSF business applications.

5. SMALL BUSINESS CONSIDERATIONS

Not applicable.

6. CONSEQUENCES OF LESS FREQUENT COLLECTION

The data collected by the NSF Account Profile are used by the NSF for reporting on opportunities to increase participation from underrepresented groups and diverse institutions throughout the United States in all NSF activities and programs. Less frequent data collection would preclude NSF from monitoring and documentation on these opportunities and would not allow for informed decisions about efforts to broaden participation. The consequence of less frequent collection would manifest itself in a lack of an effective way to monitor the information (contact information, demographic information, and academic/professional information) of principal investigators, panel reviewers, and GRFP applicants and Fellows throughout their respective research careers in NSF business applications. Less frequent data collection would provide a greater burden on the administrative support professionals to report data for efforts associated with program level monitoring and documentation.

7. SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES FOR COLLECTION

There are no special circumstances for this collection.

8. FEDERAL REGISTER NOTICE/OUTSIDE CONSULTATION

A 60-day notice for public comment was published in the Federal Register on March 25, 2022, at 87 FR 17105, and no comments were received.

In addition, the reporting requirements and estimates on the hourly burden were discussed with the staff of the Division of Information Systems our contractor, Booz Allen Hamilton. The primary respondents to this data collection were consulted

for feedback on the availability of data, frequency of data collection, the clarity of instructions, and the data elements during usability testing. Their feedback confirmed that the frequency of data collection was appropriate and that they did not provide these data in other data collections.

9. GIFTS OR REMUNERATION

Not applicable.

10. CONFIDENTIALITY PROVIDED TO RESPONDENTS

Collection of information will be consistent with OMB policies related to the administration of Federal grants as well as agency policies and practices for access to electronic and paper records. Information concerning those individuals who register with NSF to obtain an NSF ID is maintained in accordance with the requirement of the Privacy Act of 1974 and is collected by the authority of the National Science Foundation Act of 1950, as amended. The

system of records, NSF–76 Account Registration and Management, will

contain records from a centralized and streamlined account registration process that NSF is transitioning towards to provide each user a single profile with a unique identifier to be used across NSF systems. The account management functionality allows users to maintain their own NSF account profile, including personal information, and request roles to access NSF systems. The Research.gov Privacy Impact Assessment includes Account Registration and Management, where external users of Research.gov create log-in credentials and update or correct information as they desire.

11. QUESTIONS OF A SENSITIVE NATURE

Demographic information requested is based on government-wide standard categories currently in use on a variety of forms and would only pertain to the people who have requested a principal investigator or reviewer role, or, during Fiscal Year 2023, are either new applicants or current fellows associated with the Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP). Users may also select the option that they do not wish to provide such information. The demographic data will be used for data analysis, reporting, and to select diverse panels and expand opportunities to increase participation from underrepresented groups and diverse institutions throughout the United States in all NSF activities and programs. The data will be collected, maintained, and used in accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974, and any other applicable OMB and agency policies and practices.  

Agencies use demographic data, primarily to help:

• Gauge whether programs and other opportunities are fairly reaching and benefiting everyone regardless of demographic category;

• Ensure that those in under-represented groups have the same knowledge of and access to programs, meetings, vacancies, and other research and educational opportunities as everyone else;

• Gauge and report performance in promoting partnerships and collaborations;

• Assess involvement of international investigators or students in work supported;

• Track the evolution of changing science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields at different points in the pipeline (e.g., medicine and law demographics have recently changed dramatically);

• Raise investigator and agency staff awareness of the involvement of under-represented groups in research;

• Encourage the development of creative approaches for tapping into the full spectrum of talent of the STEM workforce;

• Respond to external requests for data of this nature from a variety of sources, including NAS, Congress, etc.; and

• Respond to legislatively-required analysis of workforce dynamics. Legislation requires at least one agency to routinely estimate scientific workforce needs. This analysis is accomplished through reviewing demographic data submitted for the existing workforce.

Below is a summary of what is included for the request for personal information:

The Federal Government has a continuing commitment to monitor the operation of its review and award processes and to identify and address any inequities based on gender, race, ethnicity, or disability of its proposed PIs/PDs (Program Directors). The National Science Foundation is committed to broadening the participation of groups currently underrepresented in science and engineering in NSF proposal submission and review activities. In order to accurately gauge our progress in achieving this important goal, we ask that proposers provide the requested demographic information about themselves as part of your NSF account profile. Submission of the requested information is voluntary and is not a precondition of award. Nonetheless, we need your cooperation, for information not submitted will seriously undermine the statistical validity, and therefore the usefulness, of information we get from others.

Privacy Act Statement

Collection of this information is authorized by the NSF Act of 1950, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 1861, et seq. Demographic data allows NSF to gauge whether our programs and other opportunities in science and technology are fairly reaching and benefiting everyone regardless of demographic category; to ensure that those in under-represented groups have the same knowledge of and access to programs, meetings, vacancies, and other research and educational opportunities as everyone else. The information will be held closely. It may be disclosed to government contractors, experts, volunteers and researchers to complete assigned work; and to other government agencies needing the information in order to conduct joint merit reviews with NSF; See Systems of Records, NSF-50, “Principal Investigator/Proposal File and Associated Records” 79 Federal Register 76398 (December 22, 2014); NSF-76 “Account Registration and Management” 83 Federal Register 6884 (February 15, 2018).

12. ESTIMATE OF BURDEN

It should be noted that burden estimates associated with the NSF Account Profile amount to 5 minutes to fill out the contact information, demographic information, and academic/professional information, including the collection of data to fill in the fields. This assumption includes users who have filled out information in the past and do not wish to update their information. The demographic information should be readily available as the selection fields are available on Research.gov today and the professional information can be gathered from external data sources. The estimated number of annual respondents to the NSF Account Profile is 587,776, considering all users in Research.gov, regardless of role and demographic information completion status, all unique reviewers for NSF, all Principal Investigators with an active role, all current GRFP Fellows, and the estimated annual number of GRFP applicants. The estimated burden time is 48,981 hours.

ANNUALIZED COST TO RESPONDENTS

The average salary estimate for a Principal Investigator is $39.03 per hour, and at five minutes of response time, the average annual cost is $1,911,728.43.

(This data is from the BLS website: https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/naics4_611300.htm and https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes250000.htm)

13. CAPITAL/STARTUP COSTS

There are no capital or startup costs to respondents.

14. ANNUALIZED COST TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

Grants administrative personnel and program officials, who use the NSF Account Profile to review data for eventual selection of diverse panels to increase participation from underrepresented groups and diverse institutions throughout the United States, generally are in the GS-14 and GS-15 salary ranges. Based on a step one average of these grades (OPM General Schedule Pay Table for 2022 for Locality Pay Area of Washington-Baltimore-Arlington, DC-MD-VA-WV-PA), an average hourly salary is $65.82 per hour. It is further estimated that for every proposal evaluated, about an hour of time is needed to review data from the NSF Account Profile for eventual selection of diverse panelists. Based on the NSF By the Numbers Dashboard that 39,349 proposals were evaluated in FY21, this leads to a $2,589,951 estimated annual cost to the Federal Government.

15. CHANGES IN BURDEN

There is no change in burden from the last review as the supporting statement reflects the first submission for the NSF Account Management Profile.

16. PUBLICATION OF COLLECTION

Not applicable.

17. SEEKING APPROVAL TO NOT DISPLAY OMB EXPIRATION DATE

Not applicable because the OMB number and expiration date will be included on the data collection.

18. EXCEPTION(S) TO THE CERTIFICATION STATEMENT (19) ON OMB 83-I

Not applicable.

2. STATISTICAL METHODS

No statistical methods are employed in this information collection.

  

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