Supporting Statement A

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SUPPORTING STATEMENT - PART A
DoD STEM Work Experience Program Participant Questionnaire 
 0704-0668

1. 	Need for the Information Collection

The information gathered through this survey will inform the Department of Defense (DoD) on the range of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education programs that can be considered work experience programs (WEPs) in that they have two components: (1) an experiential component where participants engage in meaningful work and (2) an educational component where they acquire skills or knowledge. This definition includes programs labeled as internships, apprenticeships, or related experiences, such as work-based learning, cooperative education, and postdoctoral positions.

There are three sections of U.S. Code Title 10 that authorize DoD to engage in STEM WEPS:
    • 10 U.S. Code §2192 - Improvement of education in technical fields: general authority regarding education in science, mathematics, and engineering
    • 10 U.S. Code §2194 - Education partnerships
    • 10 U.S. Code §2195 - Department of Defense cooperative education programs

DoD Instruction (DoDI) 1025.11, “DoD Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education Programs and Activities,” establishes policies, responsibilities, and procedures for data collection efforts that support DoD STEM education programs and activities.  DoDI 1025.11 authorizes coordinating and collecting data on STEM education programs in accordance with Public Law 111 – 358. 

This proposed data collection will provide information that may inform the Basic Research Office (BRO) within the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (OUSD(R&E)) as they develop policies, provide advice, and represent the DoD on STEM matters involving interagency partners as indicated in DoDI 1025.11. Additionally, this data collection effort has been coordinated with the DoD STEM Office and the DoD STEM Advisory Council Working Group as part of the departments’ evaluation of programs to best meet the goals and objectives of the DoD’s STEM Strategic Plan in conjunction with the DoD Components to determine the appropriate type of evaluation for answering varied questions about program performance.

2.	Use of the Information

The survey is part of a portfolio analysis of WEPs (e.g., internships, apprenticeships, post-doctoral positions) that promote STEM capabilities and are affiliated with the DoD. The purpose of the survey is to gain a better understanding of WEP participants’ educational and professional backgrounds, what they gain from completing WEPs, potential barriers to their success, and how programs may be improved for future cohorts.  

The universe of potential respondents includes adults (age 18 and up) who, within the 12 months prior to the survey, attended any of the DoD STEM WEPs that have chosen to participate in the portfolio analysis. The Institute of Defense Analyses (IDA) is a non-profit, Federally-Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC) that conducts independent analyses for the DoD and other government agencies.  For this evaluation, IDA will ask representatives from WEPs to distribute a study invitation that contains a link to the online survey and a description of the effort to their most recent cohort of participants.  Potential respondents will read the invitation and then decide whether they wish to provide feedback on the most recent program they attended by clicking a static link that takes them to the survey.

Since there is no way to predict potential respondents’ current whereabouts, the survey is being administered online using a password-protected Qualtrics account that was procured for purposes of this project.  Qualtrics is a Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) certified program. All respondents will receive the same survey instrument.  Respondents complete the collection by answering questions about their experiences in the WEPs, to include how, if at all, WEPs may be improved for future cohorts.  To put their perspectives in context, respondents are also invited to share information about their demographic, educational, and professional backgrounds.  Respondents retain the ability to skip any survey question they do not wish to answer.  Respondents may also end the survey at any time without penalty.  Respondents return the collection by clicking a button (indicated by a right arrow) on the last page of the survey, which logs their answers in a Qualtrics database attached to the survey.

The IDA research team has exclusive access to the Qualtrics account receiving survey responses.  Once data collection is complete, all survey responses will be downloaded from Qualtrics to an IDA-issued computer protected by encryption and multi-factor authentication.  The IDA research team will analyze collected data in R using a variety of statistical techniques, with the goal of identifying patterns across groups of respondents (e.g., whether program improvement suggestions varied across male and female respondents).  Results will be delivered in a report to the Basic Research Office, who may use them to inform future programming and enhance their oversight role.
 
3. 	Use of Information Technology

100% of responses will be collected electronically, since the survey is exclusively being administered through Qualtrics, an online survey application.  IDA will ask representatives from WEPs to distribute an invitation to the study, which contains a link to the online survey and a description of the effort, to their most recent cohort of participants.  Potential respondents will read the invitation and then decide whether they wish to provide feedback on the most recent program they attended by clicking a static link that takes them to the survey.  
  
4. 	Non-duplication 

The information obtained through this collection is unique and is not already available for use or adaptation from another cleared source. The centralized nature of this data collection (i.e., using one survey to collect data on multiple programs) may reduce the potential duplication of effort compared to if each program attempted to gather the information individually.

5. 	Burden on Small Businesses 

This information collection does not impose a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small businesses or entities.

6.	 Less Frequent Collection 

This is expected to be a one-time collection.

7. 	Paperwork Reduction Act Guidelines 
This collection of information does not require collection to be conducted in a manner inconsistent with the guidelines delineated in 5 CFR 1320.5(d)(2).
8. 	Consultation and Public Comments
Part A: PUBLIC NOTICE
A 60-Day Federal Register Notice (FRN) for the collection published on Wednesday, March 10, 2026.  The 60-Day FRN citation is 91 FR 35186. 
No comments were received during the 60-Day Comment Period. 
A 30-Day Federal Register Notice for the collection published on Wednesday, September 02, 2026.  The 30-Day FRN citation is 91 FR 56432
Part B: CONSULTATION
The DoD STEM Advisory Council Working Group (SACWG) is comprised of the Director of the Laboratories and Personnel Office and representatives from DoD Components that participate in DoD STEM education programs and activities, as directed by DoDI 1025.11. The SAC was consulted on February 17, 2021 about the information collection intent and goals with the opportunity for the SACWG to provide feedback. Then, on August 18, 2021 the rationale and plans for these information collection procedures were presented to the SAC through a briefing that included additional time for feedback. 

9. 	Gifts or Payment 

No payments or gifts are being offered to respondents as an incentive to participate in the collection. 

10. 	Confidentiality 

A Privacy Act Statement is not required for this collection because we are not requesting individuals to furnish personal information for a system of records. 

A System of Record Notice (SORN) is not required for this collection because records are not retrievable by PII. 

A Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) is not required for this collection because PII is not being collected electronically. 

IDA is recruiting through intermediaries to preserve respondents’ anonymity.  After WEP representatives circulate the survey invitation, they will provide IDA with the total number of people that they contacted so IDA may gauge approximately how many potential respondents per program there might be.  At no point will IDA ask for or receive respondents’ names.  At no point, will WEP representatives have access to respondents’ survey responses.

Federal regulations require research records to be retained for at least 3 years after the completion of the research (45 CFR 46).  After this time frame, all research records including any signed informed consent forms will be securely destroyed.
11. 	Sensitive Questions

At the end of the survey, there is a series of demographic questions, to include one question that invites the respondent to self-identify their race and ethnicity.  Both questions are optional and conform with OMB formatting guidance.  The purpose of these questions is to understand the racial and ethnic composition of the sample, which offers insight into the types of people being served by DoD STEM WEPs.  Demographic questions will also be used to identify whether interns of different backgrounds have different ideas and needs with respect to enhancing the success of future programming.

The issue of diversity, equity, and inclusion in education is important and relevant to DoD STEM programs. No other questions considered sensitive are being asked in this collection.

12. 	Respondent Burden and its Labor Costs
Part A: ESTIMATION OF RESPONDENT BURDEN

    1) Collection Instrument
WEP Participant Questionnaire
    a) Number of Respondents: 300
    b) Number of Responses Per Respondent: 1
    c) Number of Total Annual Responses: 300
    d) Response Time: 15 minutes
    e) Respondent Burden Hours: 75 hours

    2) Total Submission Burden
        a) Total Number of Respondents: 300
        b) Total Number of Annual Responses: 300
        c) Total Respondent Burden Hours: 75 hours

Part B: LABOR COST OF RESPONDENT BURDEN

    1) Collection Instrument: 
WEP Participant Questionnaire
    a) Number of Total Annual Responses: 300
    b) Response Time: 15 minutes
    c) Respondent Hourly Wage: $20
    d) Labor Burden per Response: $5.00
    e) Total Labor Burden: $1,500

    2) Overall Labor Burden 
        a) Total Number of Annual Responses: 300
        b) Total Labor Burden: $1,500

The Respondent hourly wage was determined by a rough estimate from cross-discipline assessments (https://www.naceweb.org/job-market/internships/intern-salaries-up-across-all-degree-levels-years/;  https://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Information_Technology_(IT)_Intern/Hourly_Rate; https://www.indeed.com/career/intern/salaries )

13.	Respondent Costs Other Than Burden Hour Costs

There are no annualized costs to respondents other than the labor burden costs addressed in Section 12 of this document to complete this collection. 

14. 	Cost to the Federal Government

Part A: LABOR COST TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

    1) Collection Instruments
WEP Participant Questionnaire
    a) Number of Total Annual Responses: 300
    b) Processing Time per Response: 0.25 hours
    c) Hourly Wage of Worker(s) Processing Responses: $50
    d) Cost to Process Each Response: $12.50
    e) Total Cost to Process Responses: $3,750

    2) Overall Labor Burden to the Federal Government
        a) Total Number of Annual Responses: 300
        b) Total Labor Burden: $3,750

Part B: OPERATIONAL AND MAINTENANCE COSTS

    1) Cost Categories
        a) Equipment: $0
        b) Printing: $0
        c) Postage: $0
        d) Software Purchases: $1,500
        e) Licensing Costs: $0
        f) Other: $0

    2) Total Operational and Maintenance Cost: $1,500

Part C: TOTAL COST TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

    1) Total Labor Cost to the Federal Government: $3,750

    2) Total Operational and Maintenance Costs: $1,500

    3) Total Cost to the Federal Government: $5,250

15. Reasons for Change in Burden

   There has been no change in burden since the last approval


16. 	Publication of Results

The results of the information collection will be aggregated as findings along with non-survey findings to be published as a DoD publication, with the broader aim of helping to improve DoD’s STEM work experience programs. The findings of the portfolio evaluation may also be shared with members of the STEM working group of the Office of Science and Technology so that the findings may also benefit other Federal programs. It is expected that the report on the results from this information collection will be published within 9 months of collection. Individual respondent results will not be published.

17. 	Non-Display of OMB Expiration Date

We are not seeking approval to omit the display of the expiration date of the OMB approval on the collection instrument. 

18. 	Exceptions to “Certification for Paperwork Reduction Submissions”

We are not requesting any exemptions to the provisions stated in 5 CFR 1320.9.