SSC Non-substantive change memo

Justification for Non-Material Change to IC Implementation Evaluation of the Strengthening Community Colleges Training Grant Program (SCC) Cohort 2 and Cohort 3 under Generic OMB 1290-0043

This memo requests a non-material change to the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) package Information Collection (IC) previously approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB Control No. 1290-0043) for data collection for the Implementation Evaluation of the Strengthening Community Colleges Training Grant Program (SCC) Cohort 2 and Cohort 3. These changes are requested as a result of the SPD-15 updated Race and Ethnicity question.

Background

The Chief Evaluation Office of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has requested an independent implementation evaluation of the Strengthening Community Colleges Training Grant (SCC). This program provides funding to assist community colleges in expanding workforce development program efforts, building capacity, and improving equity in the skilled workforce for key industry sectors. The program supports community college initiatives to develop, implement, and advance evidence-based strategies that address specific student and employer-perceived challenges and barriers by building a training-to-workforce pipeline program that partners community colleges with industry employers. Trewon Technologies, LLC, has been engaged to conduct this implementation evaluation of the SCC program, with a specific focus on SCC Cohort 2 (13 grantees) and SCC Cohort 3 (15 grantees). This document seeks approval for a generic clearance for a formative data collection to support the implementation evaluation of the Strengthening Community Colleges (SCC) Training Grant program for cohorts SCC2 and SCC3. This data collection will employ formative data collection techniques, including semi-structured focus groups, questionnaires, telephone or in-person interviews, and document reviews, and seeks to describe and more fully understand the implementation of the SCC program. The findings from this data collection will inform and support future and current research related to the outcomes of the SCC program. Still, findings are not highly systematic, do not seek causal relationships, nor are they intended to be statistically representative or otherwise generalizable.

On March 15, 2024, OMB approved the information collection request (ICR) for Implementation Evaluation of the Strengthening Community Colleges Training Grant Program (SCC) Cohort 2 and Cohort 3.

Change Requests

DOL requests changes to the questionnaires to use the updated Race and Ethnicity question. This non-substantive change requests the following:

• The Student Questionnaire, Faculty and Staff Questionnaire, Employer Questionnaire, and Workforce Agency Staff (Appendices D, E, F, and G) have been updated to use the SPD-15 recommended questionnaire on Race and Ethnicity.

The questionnaires have been updated and provided in this package.

These requested non-substantive changes do not require any changes to the burden estimates.