NonSubstantive Change Request Justification

Change Request
OMB Control Number 0920-0765
Fellowship Management System

Date Submitted: 09/18/2024

Summary of Request

CDC requests OMB approval for non-substantive changes to the electronic Fellowship Management System (FMS). Changes are proposed to improve question clarity, improve relevance of response options, and streamline question logic. There are no changes to the currently approved estimates for the number of responses, burden per response, or total burden hours.

Purpose and Organization of the FMS

CDC uses FMS to collect, process, and manage data for 11 CDC fellowship programs (Table A). Information is collected from applicants who seek training or public health support services through CDC fellowships, individuals who provide references for applicants, sites that host fellows, and fellowship alumni. The FMS is comprised of 4 modules with specialized functionality: the Fellowship Application module, the Host Site Application module, the Activity Tracking module, and the Alumni Directory. Through Revisions and Change Requests, CDC adapts the FMS to changes in fellowship opportunities and content, to improve alignment and tailoring of questions for each fellowship program's eligibility criteria, and to clarify questions and instructions according to user feedback.

Table A: Current CDC Fellowships using FMS

Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS)

Epidemiology Elective Program (EEP)

CDC Steven M. Teutsch Prevention Effectiveness (PE) Fellowship

CDC E-learning Institute (ELI)

Future Leaders in Infectious and Global health Threats (FLIGHT)

Laboratory Leadership Service (LLS)

Public Health Informatics Fellowship Program (PHIFP)

Public Health Associates Program (PHAP)

Presidential Management Fellowship (PMF)

Evaluation Fellowship Program (EFP)

Science Ambassador Fellowship (SAF)

Description of Changes Requested

In this Change Request, CDC describes minor changes for one FMS module (the Fellowship Application module) that update data entry for fellowship programs. A summary overview is provided in Table B.

Table B: Summary of Changes for the Following Modules & Fellowships

• Application Module:

  • 3 Questions added for all fellowships, 2 questions removed for all fellowships

  • Standardized Letter of Recommendation Form

    • Removal of questions for PE fellowship, no change for others

• Net changes to module by # of question

  • +1 Question in Fellowship Application Module

  • -8 Questions in SLOR form for PE fellowship

The primary purpose of these changes is to increase alignment of collection materials with program goals that have changed over the course of the transition from the FMS 2.0 software to the 3.0 Microsoft Power Platform. This request also includes updates to specific Race/Ethnicity and Gender Identity content to reflect updated OMB standards.

Detailed changes to each module are listed and described in Table D (Fellowship Application module), and Table E (Host Site Application module). These tables are provided at the end of this narrative. There are no changes to the Letters of Recommendation section in this change request.

Rationale for Change

During the transition from FMS 2.0 to 3.0 software, programs were asked to review the content of Fellowship and Host Site application modules to ensure program goals and needs were being met, and that content was ported from 2.0 to 3.0 without errors. During this review process programs also identified potential improvements to the modules. Regarding updates to existing Race/Ethnicity and Gender Identity content, adhering to OMB standards for demographic data descriptors is important for agency-wide reporting and internal consistency. DWD’s updates are in accordance with OMB’s March 2024 Statistical Policy Directive No. 15 for Race and Ethnicity and January 2023 Recommendations on Best practices for Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Data.

Description of Changes to Burden

The current burden table includes changes approved 8/24/2023 and is provided below (Table C). CDC determined that the additional changes proposed at this time do not alter the current burden estimates for the FMS information collections (“ICs”) highlighted below), given that most changes are simple revisions of existing content or removal of minor questions, and there is not a substantial change in the average length or complexity of either module.

Table C: Estimated Annualized Burden Hours (approved 8/24/2023)

Type of respondents (Information Collection “IC” title)	Form	Number of Respondents	Number of Responses per Respondent	Average Burden per Response (in hours)	Total Burden (in hours)
Fellowship Applicants (Fellowship Applications)	FMS Application Module	5286	1	87/60	7665
Reference Letter Writers (Reference Letters for Fellowship Applicants)	FMS Application Module	7142	1	15/60	1786
Subset of FMS Fellowship Applicants** (FMS Application Writing Samples (Subset Applicants))	FMS Application Module (13.6)	220	1	30/60	110
Public Health Agency or Organization Staff (FMS Host Site Module)	FMS Host Site Module	970	1	75/60	1213
Public Health Agency or Organization Staff (Activity Tracking)	FMS Activity Tracking Module	555	2	30/60	555
Fellowship alumni* (FMS Alumni Directory)	FMS Alumni Directory	3484	1	37/60	2148
Total		18212			13477

Summary of Recent Changes Requested for this ICR

Submission	Approval Date	Content of Change
June 2022 Revision Request	3/13/2023	Moved to Microsoft Power Platform software, increase in number of respondents and total burden to reflect growth of fellowship programs.
August 2023 Change Request	8/24/2023	Added Evaluation Fellowship Program to FMS, removal of PMR/F and PH-TIPP from FMS, update to relevant SORN. Net increase in respondents and increase in burden due to EFP size.
November 2023 Change Request	11/8/2023	Adjustments to Application and Host Site module content to improve question clarity, improve relevance of response options, and streamline question logic.
December 2023 Change Request	01/05/2024	Adjustments to Application and Host Site module content to improve question clarity, improve relevance of response options, and streamline question logic. Removal of student loan repayment content.
July 2024 Change Request	8/12/2024	Refinement of Self Assessment of Skills content for PE and PHIFP, modification of Address/Location questions to streamline geographical data,
September 2024 Change Request (Current Request)	TBD	Addition of updated Gender Identity and Race/Ethnicity questions as recently ratified by OMB. Minor changes to Application and Letters of Recommendation modules

TABLE D: FELLOWSHIP APPLICATION MODULE
Program	Type of Change	Sec.	Current Question/Item	Requested Change
PE	Question Revision	Education and Licenses	Is this a master’s thesis or dissertation?	Does this degree require a master’s thesis?
PE	Question Addition	Education and Licenses	n/a	Does this degree require a doctoral dissertation?
ALL	Question Addition	Applicant Survey	n/a	Are you: Mark all that apply. -Male -Female -Transgender, non-binary, or another gender -Prefer not to answer
ALL	Question Deletion	Applicant Survey	What is your ethnicity? -Hispanic or Latino -Not Hispanic or Latino	Delete question for all fellowships
All	Question Deletion	Applicant Survey	What is your Race? (Select all that apply) -- American Indian or Alaska Native -- Asian -- Black or African American -- Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander -- White	Delete question for all fellowships
ALL	Question Addition	Applicant Survey	n/a	What is your race and/or ethnicity? Select all that apply -American Indian or Alaska Native For example, Navajo Nation, Blackfeet Tribe of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation of Montana, Native Village of Barrow Inupiat Traditional Government, Nome Eskimo Community, Aztec, Maya, etc. -Asian For example, Chinese, Asian Indian, Filipino, Vietnamese, Korean, Japanese, etc. -Black or African American For example, African American, Jamaican, Haitian, Nigerian, Ethiopian, Somali, etc. -Hispanic or Latino For example, Mexican, Puerto Rican, Salvadoran, Cuban, Dominican, Guatemalan, etc. -Middle Eastern or North African For example, Lebanese, Iranian, Egyptian, Syrian, Iraqi, Israeli, etc. -Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander For example, Native Hawaiian, Samoan, Chamorro, Tongan, Fijian, Marshallaese, etc. - White For example, English, German, Irish, Italian, Polish, Scottish, etc.

TABLE E: SLOR
Program	Type of Change	Page/ Section	Current Question/Item	Requested Change
PE	Question Deletion	Section A Fields	Number of persons with similar background to the candidate that you supervised over last 5 years?	Delete question for PE
PE	Question Deletion	Section A Fields	In what role are you providing this reference	Delete question for PE
PE	Question Deletion	Section A Fields	How long have you known the candidate?	Delete question for PE
PE	Question Deletion	Section A Fields	On average, how often have you worked with, or do you work with, the candidate (For example: average of 5 days per week over the past 6 months, or occasional interaction over the past 10 years).	Delete question for PE
PE	Question Deletion	Section A Fields	Please provide an example that describes the effective prioritization of efforts, e.g., could this candidate identify and act on the most important tasks first?	Delete question for PE
PE	Question Deletion	Section A Fields	Compared with other similar individuals at similar points in their careers, how well did this candidate respond to constructive feedback?	Delete question for PE
PE	Question Deletion	Section A Fields	Do you have any concerns about this applicant and their potential performance in this fellowship/program?	Delete question for PE
PE	Question Deletion	Section A Fields	Explain the strongest reason/s that we should consider for selecting this candidate.	Delete question for PE