Supporting Statement A for
National Eye Institute’s Intramural Research Program
Application Form for electronic Individual Development Plan (eIDP) - NEI
OMB# 0925-0772 and 10/31/2024
Date: October 7, 2024
Check off which applies:
New
Revision
Reinstatement with Change
Reinstatement without Change
X Extension
Emergency
Existing
Federal Government Employee Information:
Name: Cesar E. Perez-Gonzalez
Address: Building 31, Room 6A22
31 Center Dr
Bethesda, MD 20892
Telephone: 301-827-7755
Fax: 301-451-6764
Email: [email protected]
Table of contents
A. ABSTRACT
A.1 Circumstances Making the Collection of Information Necessary
A.2. Purpose and Use of the Information COLLECTION
A.3 Use of Information Technology and Burden Reduction
A.4 Efforts to Identify Duplication and Use of Similar Information
A.5 Impact on Small Businesses or Other Small Entities
A.6 Consequences of Collecting the Information Less Frequently
A.7 Special Circumstances Relating to the Guidelines of 5 CFR 1320.5
A.8 Comments in Response to the Federal Register Notice and Efforts to Consult Outside Agency
A.9 Explanation of Any Payment of Gift to Respondents
A.10 Assurance of Confidentiality Provided to Respondents
A.11 Justification for Sensitive Questions
A.12 Estimates of Hour Burden Including Annualized Hourly Costs
A.13 Estimate of Other Total Annual Cost Burden to Respondents or Record keepers
A.14 Annualized Cost to the Federal Government
A.15 Explanation for Program Changes or Adjustments
A.16 Plans for Tabulation and Publication and Project Time Schedule
A.17 Reason(s) Display of OMB Expiration Date is Inappropriate
A.18 Exceptions to Certification for Paperwork Reduction Act Submissions
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment 1 - Initial eIDP Trainees Screenshots
Attachment 2 - Exit Survey Part 1 Screenshots
Attachment 3 - Exit Survey Part 2 Screenshots
Attachment 4 - Email Notification
Attachment 5 - Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA)
A. Justification
This is to request approval for the continued use of an electronic Individual Development Plan (eIDP), with an exit survey. Completing an eIDP is a crucial step in a trainees’ professional development and is a standard in graduate and postdoctoral education. An IDP is an effective tool for trainees to think about their career goals and skills needed to achieve them during their time at the NEI. Trainees work together with their research mentor to organize and describe their research projects, consider career paths, and set training goals and expectations. The information provided by the trainee on their proposed project, for example, helps their mentor judge the merits and feasibility of said project, helping identify problems early on and prevent possible delays. As research training at the NIH is time-limited (for example, postdoctoral fellows can only stay five years without special permission) and the types of research emphasized at the NIH and NEI are high-risk/high-reward projects that typically span much of the trainee’s tenure, the use of the project section in the eIDP assists mentors and mentees in aligning their goals and has ensured that projects are well thought out and planned to avoid delays. Additionally, in case of a dispute on the direction of a project, the mentor and mentee can refer back to what’s proposed within the eIDP.
The eIDP involves an initial assessment when a trainee starts at the NEI and then collected annually afterwards to track progress as they complete their fellowship. The eIDP system also includes an exit survey to collect outcomes data and assess the mentoring environment in the Intramural Research Program.
A.1 Circumstances Making the Collection of Information Necessary
One of the goals of the National Eye Institute’s (NEI) Intramural Research Program (IRP) is to train and support the next generation of vision science researchers and ophthalmologists. Trainees come to the NEI with various educational levels (student, postbaccalaureate, graduate students, postdoctoral fellows) and for varying periods of time (6 months to 5 years). Training at the NEI focuses not only on the development of scientific and technical skills of our trainees but also their professional and career skills. The completion of an annual Individual Development Plan (IDP) has served a crucial step in facilitating trainees’ professional development and is a standard in graduate and postdoctoral education. An IDP is an effective tool for trainees to think about their career goals and skills needed to achieve them during their time at the NEI. Trainees work together with their research mentor to organize and summarize their research projects, consider career goals, and set training goals and expectations. Trainees can also use the eIDP to work with the Training Director to address deficiencies in training that can negatively affect career plans; for example, if a trainee expresses interests in science writing jobs but do not have much a publication record or training in writing for certain audiences, the Training Director can advise the trainee on coursework available at the NIH or other opportunities to help the trainee move to the next stage of their career. Using the eIDP, a Training Director can provide information on possible career paths and the training required.
Additionally, a component of the eIDP allows a mentor to outline clear expectations on not only research projects but also on meeting frequency, lab culture, and other information that can help acclimate a trainee easier into the laboratory and potentially head off disputes. It also allows the trainee to provide their input on their needs when it coms to the culture of the lab, for example, a fellow who needs additional guidance may request more frequent meetings with their mentor.
The exit survey data will be useful in not only collecting important outcomes data on where our trainees end up after they complete their time at the NEI, which is periodically requested by NIH leadership and other Federal agencies such as the National Science Foundation, but also potentially identifying issues with mentors that could necessitate intervention by NEI leadership. It can also identify deficiencies in the NEI Training Program that the Training Director needs to address. For example, if the majority of exit surveys show that trainees feel that they are not getting adequate training in grant writing, the Training Director can look at available options to provide that training for future trainees.
The data collected comes from a detailed questionnaire focused on responses to career and professional goals and expectations while the trainee is at the NEI. It is expected that the trainees will complete the eIDP annually and that their scientific and career development could be improved by their responses. Doing an annual revision of the eIDP will allow both the mentor and mentee to adequately determine timelines for completion, address issues that could delay publication of results, and identify whether resources should continue to be provided to a particular project or if it should be discontinued in the best interests of the mentor and mentee. The effectiveness of training could also be enhanced by the reports received by the trainees completing the eIDP. The eIDP fulfills the requirements of the National Institutes of Health’s training authority as established under: the Public Health Service Act, 42 U.S.C. 216, 282(b)(13), 284(b)(1)(C), 285a-2(b)(3), 286b-3, 287c-21(a).
The purpose of the eIDP (Attachment 1: Initial eIDP Trainees Screenshots) is to ensure that NEI trainees are receiving proper career and professional guidance, making appropriate progress, and determining activities to achieve their goals to help fellows successfully transition to the next stage of their career as future contributors and leaders of the U.S. research enterprise. All fields within the eIDP are required fields.
This request is for continued use of the NEI eIDP involving approximately 150 trainees for the eIDP to collect input on the application and review processes. The primary goal is to use the eIDP is used to track trainees’ career and professional goals and to ensure trainees receive the tools needed to achieve those goals. The past three years have shown that the eIDP is an effective tool in career planning for fellows and we would like to continue using it to put them in the best place to succeed.
The eIDP utilizes many of the following information fields:
General information (name, year of training, position title, terminal degree, lab/branch name, research mentor and lab/branch chief names);
Contact information (e-mail, phone, and location for current lab/branch);
Research training activities (project description, training needed to accomplish research goals, deliverables);
Career goals and training activities (future career path, skills needed to achieve goals);
Expectations for training (trainee and mentor expectations)
Additionally, the system also has a two-part exit survey for fellows leaving our training program (Attachment 2: Exit Survey Part 1 Screenshots and Attachment 3: Exit Survey Part 2 Screenshots). This is designed to facilitate outcomes reporting and to potentially identify gaps and deficiencies in the NEI training program, which we have used the past three years. For example, comments from exit surveys has led us to consider implementing more leadership training for fellows.
The exit survey utilizes many of the following information fields:
General information (name, year of training, position title, lab/branch name, research mentor
Contact information (e-mail)
New position information (degree type pursued if applicable, position title, type of organization, future duties)
Assessment of the training experience (relationship with mentor, training, the research environment)
The eIDP will be administered electronically to trainees (Attachment 1). Upon completion of their training at the NEI, trainees will be asked to electronically complete an exit survey (Attachments 2 and 3).
Electronic email will be used to request completion of the eIDP (Attachment 4: Email Notification).
NOTE: the NEI eIDP system draws information from various NIH systems to pre-populate certain fields. Names that do appear in the screenshots within the attachments are from dummy accounts that have been created within those systems to prevent any breach of Personally Identifiable Information (PII) or unnecessary redactions.
A.3 Use of Information Technology and Burden Reduction
A completed Individual Development Plan has always been required annually by the trainee, but until now it has been paper-based. Using an electronic IDP is advantageous because it will save time and lessen the burden to the users compared to managing paper copies. The exit survey is also a requirement of trainees but is also currently
The eIDP is web-based. The survey will be administered using an email invitation (Attachment 4) and the trainee will complete the eIDP by computer. The NEI Privacy Act Coordinator was consulted, and it was determined that a Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) is needed. A PIA has been completed and filed with our ISSO team for uploading to NSAT (Attachment 5: Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA)).
This system, which was originally developed by the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) Center for Cancer Training (CCT) and was provided to the NEI via software agreement. NCI has already received OMB clearance (OMB NO: 0925-0762, exp. Date 6/30/2025) for their eIDP and other than branding changes, is identical to the NCI system. This information will not be collected anywhere else and is unique to the trainees’ eIDP.
There is no impact on small businesses or other small entities.
Information will be collected and updated once annually until the trainee leaves the NEI. Annual collection of the eIDP is needed to better train and track the trainee population in order to support NEI’s goal of training future vision researchers.
This survey will be implemented in a manner that fully complies with 5 C.F.R. 1320.5.
This proposed information collection was previously published in the Federal Register on August 1, 2024, page 62749-62750 (89 FR 62749)and allowed 60 days for public comment. No public comments were received.
No efforts have been made to consult with an outside agency.
A.9 Explanation of Any Payment of Gift to Respondents
No payments nor gifts will be distributed to the individuals completing the eIDP.
A.10 Assurance of Confidentiality Provided to Respondents
All information will be kept private to the extent provided by law. Only intramural trainees will have the ability to initiate their eIDPs using their NIH login credentials.
Personally Identifiable Information (PII) collected includes: name, contact information, and education. Federal regulations for the protection of human subjects do not apply to this activity. The information collected is covered by the NIH Privacy Act Systems of Records Notice (SORN) is #09–25–0014, “Clinical Research; Student Records, HHS/PHS/NIH/OD/OIR/OE.”
A.11 Justification for Sensitive Questions
Gender is pre-populated from data available from the NIH Enterprise Directory. The trainee may complete optional fields for race/ethnicity, which is in the process of modification to match the new Directive 15 standards. Data collected will be used for internal tracking to ensure we attract a diverse trainee population.
A.12.1 Estimates of Hour Burden Including Annualized Hourly Costs
A list of trainees who are required to complete the eIDP is identified by NEI’s Intramural Administrative Management Branch (IAMB) using information available through NIH Enterprise Directory and the Fellowship Payment System. It is estimated there will be a total of 150 trainee respondents who will complete the initial eIDP and exit surveys. The initial eIDP and exit survey will take approximately 5 to 60 minutes to complete, depending on the form. The estimated hour burden included for this information collection is 213 hours (Table 12-1).
Table 12-1 Estimated Annualized Burden Hours
|
Type of Respondent |
Number of Respondents |
Number of Responses per Respondent |
Average Time Per Response (in hours) |
Total Annual Burden Hour |
eIDP |
Individuals |
150 |
1 |
1 |
150 |
Exit Survey Part 1 |
Individuals |
150 |
1 |
5/60 |
13 |
Exit Survey Part 2 |
Individuals |
150 |
1 |
20/60 |
50 |
|
TOTAL |
|
450 |
|
213 |
A.12-2 Annual Cost to respondent
The annualized cost to respondents is estimated to be $11,350.77 (Table 12.2). The source of the Hourly Wage Rate is a Medical Scientist (19-1042) from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_nat.htm .
Table 12-2 Annualized Cost to Respondents
Type of Respondent |
Total Annual Burden Hours |
Hourly Wage Rate |
Respondent Cost |
Medical Scientist |
213 |
$53.29 |
$11,350.77 |
https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_nat.htm
A.13 Estimate of Other Total Annual Cost Burden to Respondents or Record Keepers
There are no capital costs, operating costs, or maintenance costs to report.
Staff |
Grade/Step |
Salary |
% of Effort |
Fringe (if applicable) |
Total Cost to Gov’t |
Federal Oversight |
|
|
|
|
|
Training Director |
13/7 |
$141,557 |
5% |
|
$7,077.85 |
Research Mentor (PI)
|
15/6 |
$243,420* |
0.5% |
|
$1217.10 |
21 PIs total |
|
|
|
|
$25,559.10 |
Lab/Branch/Office Chief
|
15/7 |
$279,362** |
0.5% |
|
$1396.81 |
6 Chiefs total |
|
|
|
|
$8,380.86 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Contractor Cost |
|
|
|
|
|
Computer/Website Developer |
|
|
|
|
$15,000.00*** |
Travel |
|
|
|
|
$0 |
Other Cost**** |
|
|
|
|
$0 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total |
|
|
|
|
www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/salaries-wages/salary-tables/24Tables/html/DCB.aspx
* Average salary for the 21 NEI principal investigators
** Average salary for the 6 NEI Lab/Branch Chiefs
*** This is an estimated cost because this is one part of a larger contract that includes other tasks the contractor completes.
A.15 Explanation for Program Changes or Adjustments
This is a request for an extension of the already existing eIDP system. No changes or adjustments are being made at the present time.
Results will be tabulated after the completion of the eIDP. The results from this systemand any publications or presentations are not generalizable and will not be used to make broad, expansive conclusions.
The study time schedule is outlined in Table A.16-1.
Activity |
Months after OMB Approval |
Initiate eIDP |
Month 0-2 |
Complete eIDP |
Month 3 |
Analyze responses and revise eIDP (if necessary) |
Months 4-6 |
Run reports |
Months 6-8 |
Begin eIDP renewal |
Months 9-12 |
A.17 Reason(s) Display of OMB Expiration Date is Inappropriate
We are not requesting an exemption to the display of the OMB Expiration Date.
A.18 Exceptions to Certification for Paperwork Reduction Act Submissions
This survey will comply with the requirements in 5 C.F.R. 1320.9.
| File Type | application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document |
| Subject | Supporting Statement A |
| Author | Lopez, Maria (NIH/NICHD) [E] |
| File Modified | 0000-00-00 |
| File Created | 2024-10-30 |