sub-study for Assessment of RCMI Program

`Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for NIH Citizen Science and Crowdsourcing Projects”

(OMB#: 0925-0766 Exp., date: 04/2023)

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: Surveys to Support Assessment of Research Centers in Minority Institutions (RCMI) Program (NIMHD)

PURPOSE: The purpose of this information collection is to gather input and feedback from RCMI program stakeholders on different aspects of the program. The survey will capture the experiences of different stakeholder groups involved with the RCMI program and highlight any challenges with implementing RCMI program activities. It will also capture observations about outcomes and progress achieved from a broad pool of program participants. The data captured will contribute to informing future NIMHD decisions and actions to make programmatic improvements to the RCMI program. The survey instruments are designed to utilize skip patterns to reduce respondent burden for groups with limited interaction with the RCMI program, or for stakeholders who are not currently involved with the RCMI program.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS: Participants in the survey will include RCMI Center Principal Investigators (PIs), Multiple Principal Investigators (MPIs), Core Directors, Institutional Leaders, Faculty Investigators (Current and Former), Early-stage Investigators (ESIs), Community Advisory Board (CAB) Members, and Members of Scientific Advisory Committees (SACs).

TYPE OF COLLECTION: (Check one)

[ ] Data Catalogue [ ] Repository of Tools and Best Practices

[ ] Recommendations of scientific reviewers [ ] Resources

[ ] Call for Nominations [X] Other: Stakeholder Experience with and

Perception of the RCMI Program

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. Information gathered will not be used for the purpose of substantially informing influential policy decisions.

5. 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: Michael Banyas

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 [ ] No

3. If Applicable, has a System or Records Notice been published? [ ] Yes [X] No

Gifts or Payments:

Is an incentive (e.g., money or reimbursement of expenses, token of appreciation) provided to participants? [ ] Yes [X] No

ESTIMATED BURDEN HOURS and COSTS

Category of Respondent	No. of Respondents	No. of Responses per Respondent	Time per Response (In hours)	Total Burden Hours
RCMI Leadership Survey	300	1	20/60	100
Faculty Survey	425	1	20/60	142
Institutional Leaders Survey	63	1	15/60	16
Community Advisory Board Member Survey	63	1	15/60	16
Scientific Advisory Committee Members Survey	126	1	15/60	32
Totals		977		306

COST TO RESPONDENT

Category of Respondent	Total Burden Hours	Hourly Wage Rate*	Total Burden Cost
Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations (RCMI Leadership Survey, Faculty Survey, Institutional Leaders Survey, Scientific Advisory Committee Members Survey)	290	$38.81b	$11,254.9
All Occupations (CAB Members Survey)	16	$28.01a	$448.16
Totals	306		$11,703.06

* Averaged mean hourly wage rate for respondents based on BLS National Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates for All Occupations (https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_nat.htm#00-0000)a; Biological Scientists (occupation code 19-0000 Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations: https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_nat.htm#29-0000)b 

 

FEDERAL COST: The estimated annual cost to the Federal government is $148,704.93.

Staff	Grade/Step	Salary*	% of Effort	Fringe (if applicable)	Total Cost to Gov’t
Federal Oversight
Health Scientist Administrator	14/1	$ 126,233	5%		$6,065.80
Contractor Cost					$142,639.13
Travel
Other Cost
Total					$148,704.93

*the Salary in table above is cited from https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/salaries-wages/salary-tables/pdf/2022/DCB.pdf

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?

The target population for survey participation and the sampling strategy for each stakeholder group is described in Table 1. All members of most stakeholder groups will be invited to participate in the survey, with the exception of Institutional leaders at RCMI Centers, former RCMI faculty, and CAB members. Survey invitations will be extended to a proportion of these three stakeholder groups to reduce the burden of participation for individuals who are more distantly connected to the RCMI program.

To identify all former RCMI Leadership and Faculty/Junior Investigators, all names, roles/titles, and contact information of RCMI personnel who have been involved with each RCMI center from 2012 to 2020 were extracted from NIH databases (research performance progress reports (RPPR) and key personnel lists). To identify current RCMI Leadership and Faculty/Junior Investigators, all names, roles/titles, and contact information were extracted from key personnel lists from the 2022 RPPR and key personnel lists. Personnel were categorized as one of the following stakeholder groups based on their reported role/title: RCMI leadership (including PIs, Co-PIs, and Core Directors), RCMI Faculty & Junior Investigators, or Committee Members. The RCMI Centers’ leadership (PIs) will also be asked to select 3 institutional leaders from a list of names Ripple Effect identified from public sources to be invited to participate in the survey. RCMI Center Leadership (PIs) will also be asked to nominate or identify up to 6 Scientific Committee members to be invited to participate in the surveys. Ripple Effect will distribute the survey link to participants via email after the initial pre-notification and invitation is extended by NIMHD.

Table 1: Sampling Strategy

Stakeholder Group	Sampling Strategy
RCMI Leadership (PIs, MPIs, and Core Directors)	All current and former PIs, MPIs, and Core Directors at currently funded (active awards) RCMI Centers will be invited to participate in the survey.
RCMI Faculty RCMI Current Junior Investigators RCMI Current Faculty RCMI Former Faculty	All Junior Investigators at currently funded RCMI Centers will be invited to participate in the survey. All current faculty (i.e., leaders of and participants in current RCMI core research projects) will be invited to participate. 85 former RCMI faculty members will be randomly sampled from a list of RCMI faculty (2012 – 2020) from each RCMI Center and invited to participate in the survey.
RCMI Institutional Leadership	Three Institutional Leaders at each of the currently funded RCMI Centers will be identified by the RCMI PIs and invited to participate in the survey.
Community Advisory Board/Committee Members	Three CAB members at each of the currently funded RCMI Centers will be identified by RCMI PIs and invited to participate in the survey.
Scientific Advisory Committee	All members of the Scientific Advisory Committee at currently funded RCMI centers will be identified by the RCMI PIs and invited to participate in the survey.

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

Please make sure that all instruments, instructions, and scripts are submitted with the request.

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