Supporting Statement A

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PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT SUBMISSION
Supporting Statement

Agency: Federal Bureau of Investigation 

Title: FBI Collecting Evaluation Data: End-of Session Questionnaires 

Forms: FBI National Academy End-of-Session Student Course Questionnaire 
FBI National Academy – General Remarks Questionnaire 

OMB No:	1110-0076 

Prepared by:	Denielle Johnson 
Unit Chief 
Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI Academy 
Training Division 
1 Range Road 
Quantico, Virginia	22135

The FBI Training Division's Redstone Academy Section (RAS), Advanced Certification and Coordination Unit (ACCU) is requesting the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to approve the Paperwork Reduction Act submission for a revised data collection. The collection consists of two student questionnaires directed towards the FBI National Academy (NA) students and two questionnaires for students attending the Law Enforcement Basic Instructor Course (LEBIC). ACCU wants to ensure that the FBI NA is meeting the needs of their students by offering them an opportunity for suggestions for program enhancement.

Responses from the questionnaires will assist ACCU in identifying deficiencies and strengths in service delivery. From this information, educational growth may be identified to foster development of best customer service practices that will increase the efficiency and quality of personal and professional development of law enforcement officers.

The FBI National Academy End-of-Session Student Course Questionnaire will be distributed to all students who attend the FBI NA. The questions will target the students’ reaction to the courses they just completed.

The FBI National Academy General Remarks Questionnaire will be distributed to all students who attend the FBI NA. The questions will target the students’ reaction to their overall experience during their 10-week training session at FBI National Academy, Quantico, Virginia. 

LEBIC course surveys will be distributed to all attendees in all iterations of the course to assess their pre- and post-course experience.

A.	JUSTIFICATION
1.	Circumstances of the collection

A. Post Graduate Evaluation of the FBI National Academy

The FBI NA was created in response to a 1930 study released by the National Committee on Law Observation and Enforcement. This body was appointed by Hebert Hoover to study causes of criminal activity (largely related to prohibition) and make recommendations regarding appropriate national policy responses. One of those recommendations concerned appropriate national policy responses. Another recommendation was to establish an "FBI Police Training School" that would offer training to law enforcement professionals from around the country to bring about greater standardization of techniques and a higher level of professionalism. 

Today, the mission of the FBI NA is to "support, promote, and enhance the personal and professional development of law enforcement leaders by preparing them for complex, dynamic and contemporary challenges through innovative techniques, facilitating excellence in education and research, and forging partnerships throughout the world.” To meet this mission, the FBI NA offers a quarterly 10-week program including undergraduate and graduate courses on their campus at the FBI Academy, Quantico, Virginia. The subject areas covered include law, behavioral science, forensic science, leadership development, communication, and health and fitness. In addition, to class work, FBI NA attendance allows law enforcement professionals the opportunity to network, share ideas, and learn from their various experiences. Participation is by invitation only and is implemented though a supervisory nomination process. Attendees represent state and local police and sheriffs’ departments, military police organizations, and federal law enforcement agencies from the United States and over 150 foreign nations.

B. Law Enforcement Basic Instructor Course

The Law Enforcement Basic Instructor Course (LEBIC) is an intense 40-hour practical, skill-oriented course designed to provide participants the fundamentals of adult instruction. Participants will learn and practice a variety of instructional strategies for delivering effective instruction. Attendees are state and local law enforcement officers around the country.

2.	Purpose and Use of the Information

The purpose of the proposed data collection from both questionnaires is to gather feedback from FBI NA students about their courses, instructors, and their overall experience. The results are used to help determine if the FBI NA program is functioning as intended and meeting its goals and objectives. 

The purpose of data collection from the LEBIC questionnaires is to assess pre- and post-course data to further enhance the course and meeting its goals and 
objectives. 

FBI National Academy: End-of-Session Student Course Questionnaire

The information collected from the FBI National Academy End-of-Session Student Course 
Questionnaire will determine the strengths and weaknesses of the existing program. 
Information received will measure the students’ reaction to the FBI NA program. No one 
other than the students’ can provide relevant feedback on the quality of the instruction at the 
FBI NA has and how it affected their professional development once they return to work. 
This questionnaire represents the most cost-effective method for allowing the students to 
provide.
 
FBI National Academy: General Remarks Questionnaire 

The information collected from the FBI National Academy: General Remarks Questionnaire will determine how the FBI can improve the students overall experience during their stay at the FBI NA. This will be accomplished by assessing students’ views of the FBI’s facilities, programs and resources. In addition, address improvements or alterations that can be instituted to strengthen the FBI NA. No one other than the students can more directly provide feedback on how this experience has affected them. This questionnaire represents the most cost-effective method to provide such feedback and, as a result, create the opportunity for improvements to the FBI NA. 

This data collection is justified under 5 U.S.C. 410.601(f) (Office of Personnel Management, Training, Evaluation of Training). This section reads as follows: 

Under provisions of Chapter 41 of Title 5, United States Code, and Executive 
Order 11348, the agency head shall evaluate training to determine how well it 
meets short and long-range program needs by occupations, organizations, or 
other appropriate groups. The agency head may conduct the evaluation in the 
manner or frequency he or she considers appropriate.


3.	Use of Automated, Electronic, Mechanical, or Technological Collection of Techniques 

To the extent possible, all data collection will be conducted through the Internet. The data collection plan calls for FBI NA graduates and their supervisors to be contacted via email to inform them of the existence and purpose of the questionnaire. Therefore, all activities associated with this data collection involve information technology. The decision was made to use these methods to make it as easy as possible for all respondents to participate. Should a graduate or supervisor prefer to complete a paper version of the questionnaire, they will be allowed to request one via email. We anticipate this option will be selected infrequently. To the extent possible, all data collection will be conducted through the Internet. The data collection plan calls for LEBIC attendees to be contacted via email to inform them of the existence and purpose of the questionnaire. Therefore, all activities associated with this data collection involve information technology. The decision was made to use these methods to make it as easy as possible for all respondents to participate. Should a graduate or supervisor prefer to complete a paper version of the questionnaire, they will be allowed to request one via email. We anticipate this option will be selected infrequently. 

4.	Efforts to Identify Duplication 

Given the unique nature of the FBI NA’s and LEBIC program, efforts are possible only by questioning students. No other sources are available or viable for this purpose. 

5.	Impact on Small Business 

The collection of information will not have an impact on small businesses. 

6.	Consequences of not Collecting Data 

The content of the FBI NA program and LEBIC and the way they have conveyed have been carefully designed to address the institution’s mission. The changing nature of law enforcement presents the possibility that additional content may be needed, otherwise content has become less worthwhile to professionals in the field. Student Course Questionnaires will allow FBI personnel to monitor the quality of instruction and make necessary changes to the program.

7.	Special Circumstances 

(a) Respondents will not be required to report information more than quarterly. (b) Although open-ended responses will be included in the questionnaire, most questions are in multiple-choice format. Those questions that do require a written response are intended to elicit brief comments or recommendations related to the FBI NA program and LEBIC content. We will be asking students to respond in a period of two weeks or less; however, we feel the nature of the written responses is such that this will not inflict undue burden. This is especially true since all input will be gathered via the Internet. (c) Respondents will not be required to submit documentation of any kind with their completed questionnaires. (d) Respondents will not be required to retain records of any kind as part of this data collection. (e) All students who attend a 10-week training session at the FBI NA, approximately 1,000 law enforcement professionals, will be questioned. No statistical data classification is required. The proposed questionnaire does not include a pledge of confidentiality that is not supported by authority established in statute or regulation, that is not supported by disclosure and data security policies that are consistent with the pledge, or which unnecessarily impedes sharing of data with other agencies for compatible confidential use. Respondents are not required to submit proprietary trade secrets or other confidential information.

8.	Outside Consultation 

Consultation was conducted internally within the FBI’s Training Division. Its feedback was utilized to tailor the questionnaires to meet the needs of the students. 

9.	Payment to Respondents 

No payment or gifts will be offered to respondents

10.	Assurance of Confidentiality

All respondents will be assured of confidentiality under Public Law 93-573 (Privacy Act of 1974). They will be assured that individual data will not be released, and that only aggregate data will be reported. Limited demographic information will be collected, allowing no possibility of identifying individual respondents. 

11.	Justification for Sensitive Questions

This data collection includes no questions of a sensitive nature. 

12.	Estimates of Hour Burden

Approximately 11,000 Law Enforcement Officers students during the three-year period will respond to questionnaires. We anticipated a 75% response rate of those surveyed (or 8,250), thus the total public burden for the data collection for completing both questionnaires is 1,375 hours. Wage rate data was obtained from the Department of Labor.1 Because respondents occupy a variety of positions within law enforcement agencies, we took the average of the upper limit salaries from the following classifications to represent wage rate: detectives/criminal investigators, police and sheriff’s patrol officers, private detectives and investigators and Federal Branch supervisors. The average annual salary came to $101,750. Given a yearly total of 1,920 hours on the job, the average hourly salary comes to $48.92. The total estimated time to complete both questionnaires per respondent is approximately 117 minutes, the costs associated with this effort come to $95.38 per respondent, or a total of $ 131,120. 

13.	Estimates of Cost Burden

No equipment, software, systems, or technology will be purchased to support this 
effort. Completing both questionnaires will have no monetary cost on the 
respondents. 

14.	Estimates of Annualized Cost to the Federal Government

This is a data collection that will be offered four times a year for NA and no more 
than twelve times for LEBIC. The costs outlined in Section 12 and 13 represent the 
total cost of this project.

15.	Reasons for Program Changes 

There are no program changes or adjustment reported in Items 13 or 14 of OMB Form 83I. 

16.	Plans for Tabulation and Publication 

The ACCU, RAS, will provide a report summarizing the background, methodology, and results. The report will not be released to the public; however, it will be maintained in a database for use by FBI employees or FBI contract employees. At this time, it is anticipated that the following data summaries will be provided: 

Frequencies summarizing the responses to each of the close-ended response items. 

    • Charts showing the summation of all the quantitative items on the questionnaires.
    • Compilation of the responses to each of the close-ended items. 

At this time, it is not anticipated that complex statistical issues will emerge. The time schedule for the project is provided in the table below.

Event
Completion Date
Questionnaire approval by OMB

Questionnaire programing

Initial contact with graduates

Reminder notifications

Completion of data collection

Content analysis

Final questionnaire database

Data analysis

Delivery of draft report

Delivery of final report


17.	Request for Approval not to display OMB Expiration Date 

The expiration date for OMB approval number will be displayed. 

18.	Exceptions to the Certification Statement 

No exceptions to the certification statement are requested.