72796 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 203 / Monday, October 23, 2023 / Notices 

for building the facility and establishing 

the library endowment. 

Sheena Burrell, 

Executive for Information Services/CIO. 

[FR Doc. 2023–23357 Filed 10–20–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7515–01–P 

NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION 

Privacy Act of 1974; System of 

Records 

AGENCY: National Science Foundation. 

ACTION: Notice of a new system of 

records. 

SUMMARY: The National Science 

Foundation (NSF) is creating a new 

system of records: NSF–80, Education 

and Training Application Data System 

(ETAP). This new system of records will 

contain records about individuals 

interested in participating in NSF 

education and training activities, and 

individuals engaged in the planning, 

management, and implementation of 

those activities. Records will bolster the 

agency’s capacity to conduct robust 

evidence-building activities, including 

monitoring, targeted research, and 

rigorous evaluation of its education and 

training activities. 

DATES: This system notice is effective as 

of October 23, 2023. The routine uses 

described in this notice will take effect 

on November 22, 2023, unless modified 

by a subsequent notice to incorporate 

comments received from the public. 

Submit comments on or before 

November 22, 2023. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, 

identified as ‘‘SORN NSF–80 (ETAP),’’ 

by any of the following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

• Email: Senior Agency Official for 

Privacy, Dorothy Aronson, daronson@

nsf.gov. Include ’’SORN NSF–80, ETAP’’ 

in the subject line of the message. 

• Mail: Dorothy Aronson, Senior 

Agency Official for Privacy, Office of 

Information and Resource Management, 

National Science Foundation, 2415 

Eisenhower Ave., Alexandria, VA 

22314. 

Instructions: NSF will post all 

comments on the NSF’s website (https:// 

www.nsf.gov). All comments submitted 

in response to this Notice will become 

a matter of public record. Therefore, you 

should submit only information that 

you wish to make publicly available. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If 

you wish to submit general questions 

about the proposed new system of 

records NSF–80, please contact Dorothy 

Aronson, Senior Agency Official for 

Privacy, at daronson@nsf.gov or 703– 

292–4299. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NSF 

supports students and early career 

professionals at all stages of their 

academic journey through a wide range 

of opportunities that foster professional 

growth, facilitating exposure to and 

induction into the practice of science. 

The new system of records, NSF–80, 

Education and Training Application 

Data System (ETAP), will be used to 

collect, maintain, and manage 

individual applications to education 

and training opportunities funded by 

NSF, allow tracking of participants’ 

program experiences and career 

outcomes over time, and provide highquality data that NSF can use to respond 

to Administration priorities, the 

Foundations for Evidence-Based 

Policymaking Act of 2018 (Evidence 

Act), the America COMPETES 

Reauthorization Act of 2010, and the 

CHIPS+ Act. 

SYSTEM NAME AND NUMBER: 

Education and Training Application 

Data System Records (ETAP), NSF–80. 

SECURITY CLASSIFICATION: 

Unclassified. 

SYSTEM LOCATION: 

National Science Foundation, 2415 

Eisenhower Ave., Alexandria, VA 

22314. 

SYSTEM MANAGER(S): 

Chief Evaluation Officer and Division 

Director, Division of Information 

Systems, NSF. 

AUTHORITY FOR MAINTENANCE OF THE SYSTEM: 

42 U.S.C. 1862 & 1870; 44 U.S.C. 

3101; Public Law 105–277, t. 4, sec. 414, 

as amended, codified at 8 U.S.C. 1101 

note (NSF S–STEM Program); and other 

program statutes, including 42 U.S.C. 

1862p–6, 42 U.S.C. 1862p–7, 42 U.S.C. 

1862p–13, 42 U.S.C. 1862p–15, 42 

U.S.C. 1862t, 42 U.S.C. 1869c, 42 

U.S.C.1885a. 

PURPOSE(S) OF THE SYSTEM: 

(1) To provide high-quality data that 

NSF can use for robust evidencebuilding activities including 

monitoring, targeted research, and 

rigorous evaluations of its activities, 

including programs. 

(2) To provide the public with a 

transparent, accessible, and centralized 

location of information on NSF 

education and training opportunities 

and reduce burden on individuals 

(mostly students), who will be able to 

use a common application to apply to 

multiple training opportunities funded 

by NSF. 

(3) To lower barriers to entry into NSF 

programs for new and aspiring Principal 

Investigators (PIs), who will be able to 

leverage a robust and secure data 

collection system, free of charge, to 

manage applications to their projects, 

and reduce administrative costs for 

existing PIs. 

(4) To provide NSF’s community of 

stakeholders (including PIs, Co-PIs, and 

NSF program officers and leadership) 

with timely access to data analytics on 

applicants and participants to inform 

decision making and support 

improvement efforts. 

(5) To enable longitudinal tracking of 

outputs and outcomes to assess the 

effectiveness of NSF’s education and 

training activities and inform decisions. 

(6) To provide demographic data that 

NSF can use to ensure equitable 

representation of groups that are 

traditionally underrepresented in 

science, technology, engineering, and 

mathematics (STEM). 

(7) To recognize the achievements of 

distinguished individuals, their actions, 

products, or ideas and disseminate 

information of relevant opportunities to 

support individuals’ careers in STEM. 

(8) To support NSF efforts to 

disseminate information about the 

agency’s education and training 

opportunities, as appropriate, and about 

the effectiveness of its activities. 

(9) To provide data that may be used 

for NSF compliance with applicable 

laws and policies, and conflict of 

interest management. 

CATEGORIES OF INDIVIDUALS COVERED BY THE

SYSTEM: 

This system contains information on 

members of the public interested in 

participating in education and training 

opportunities supported by NSF. These 

include individuals who apply to, 

participate in, and/or are supported by 

NSF education and training programs, 

projects and activities, including but not 

limited to students, other youth and 

early career individuals, teachers, 

higher education faculty, mentors, 

administrators, and parents/legal 

guardians (where applicable). The 

system also maintains information on 

individuals engaged in the management 

and implementation of those 

opportunities, including PIs and Co-PIs 

of NSF awards and their designees 

involved in recruitment and selection of 

program participants. The system covers 

these individuals only to the extent that 

the records are about the individual and 

are retrieved from the system by that 

individual’s name or other personally 

assigned identifier. 


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Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 203 / Monday, October 23, 2023 / Notices 72797 

CATEGORIES OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM: 

Records vary by categories of 

individuals and, for applicants, the type 

of education and training opportunities 

to which they are applying. Records 

may include information such as 

individuals’ names, contact information, 

date of birth, demographic information, 

parental education and occupation, 

higher education degree information, 

school/institution names, academic 

records, college financial aid 

information, prior research experiences, 

work experience (if a teacher: including 

school name, teaching grade and 

subject, years of teaching experience, 

teaching certification), awareness of a 

given program, opportunity applying 

for, preferences for data sharing with 

other NSF opportunities for which they 

have not applied, additional materials 

requested by PIs (which may include 

personal statement, transcripts, CV or 

re ́sume ́, references’ contact information, 

and other materials), reference letters of 

support (relationship with applicant, 

applicant skills and abilities 

assessments, and letter of 

recommendation), admission decisions, 

acceptances, participation, and NSF 

funding, program experiences (weeks 

spent in program, support from faculty 

and staff, program activities, type of 

mentor, time spent with mentor, 

experiences with mentor, benefits of 

program, satisfaction with experience) 

and feedback, and employment 

information. In addition, records may 

include information about the 

opportunity, including its NSF award/ 

proposal ID and its associated metadata, 

such as opportunity name, location, 

external website link, application 

window, application type (open 

competition or invitation-only), 

opportunity start and end date, 

description of the opportunity, 

eligibility requirements and 

certification, fields of study, and 

research topics or keywords. 

RECORD SOURCE CATEGORIES: 

Individuals registering with NSF (1) 

to apply and participate in NSF 

education and training opportunities 

(prospective applicants and 

participants), or (2) to create, manage, or 

administer such opportunities (PIs, CoPIs, and their designated individuals, 

NSF staff and external qualified 

reviewers). System data on individuals 

may be collected from the individuals 

directly, from third-party individuals or 

entities, or be derived from other related 

NSF systems of records (e.g., PI and 

reviewer files, see NSF–50 and –51, 

respectively). 

ROUTINE USES OF RECORDS MAINTAINED IN THE

SYSTEM, INCLUDING CATEGORIES OF USERS AND

PURPOSES OF SUCH USES: 

The following NSF standard routine 

uses apply: 

1. Members of Congress. Information 

from a system may be disclosed to 

congressional offices in response to 

inquiries from the congressional offices 

made at the request of the individual to 

whom the record pertains. 

2. Freedom of Information Act/ 

Privacy Act Compliance. Information 

from a system may be disclosed to the 

Department of Justice or the Office of 

Management and Budget in order to 

obtain advice regarding NSF’s 

obligations under the Freedom of 

Information Act and the Privacy Act. 

3. Counsel. Information from a system 

may be disclosed to NSF’s legal 

representatives, including the 

Department of Justice and other outside 

counsel, where the agency is a party in 

litigation or has an interest in litigation 

and the information is relevant and 

necessary to such litigation, including 

when any of the following is a party to 

the litigation or has an interest in such 

litigation: (a) NSF, or any component 

thereof; (b) any NSF employee in his or 

her official capacity; (c) any NSF 

employee in his or her individual 

capacity, where the Department of 

Justice has agreed to, or is considering 

a request to, represent the employee; or 

(d) the United States, where NSF 

determines that litigation is likely to 

affect the agency or any of its 

components. 

4. National Archives, General Services 

Administration. Information from a 

system may be disclosed to 

representatives of the General Services 

Administration and the National 

Archives and Records Administration 

(NARA) during the course of records 

management inspections conducted 

under the authority of 44 U.S.C. 2904 

and 2906. 

5. Response to an Actual or Suspected 

Compromise or Breach of Personally 

Identifiable Information. NSF may 

disclose information from the system to 

appropriate agencies, entities, and 

persons when: (1) NSF suspects or has 

confirmed that there has been a breach 

of the system of records; (2) NSF has 

determined that as a result of the 

suspected or confirmed breach there is 

a risk of harm to individuals; NSF 

(including its information systems, 

programs, and operations); the Federal 

Government, or national security; and 

(3) the disclosure made to such 

agencies, entities, and persons is 

reasonably necessary to assist in 

connection with NSF efforts to respond 

to the suspected or confirmed breach or 

to prevent, minimize, or remedy such 

harm. Furthermore, NSF may disclose 

information from the system to another 

Federal agency or Federal entity, when 

NSF determines that information from 

this system of records is reasonably 

necessary to assist the recipient agency 

or entity in: (1) Responding to a 

suspected or confirmed breach; or (2) 

preventing, minimizing, or remedying 

the risk of harm to individuals, the 

recipient agency or entity (including its 

information systems, programs, and 

operations), the Federal Government, or 

national security, resulting from a 

suspected or confirmed breach. 

6. Courts. Information from a system 

may be disclosed to the Department of 

Justice or other agencies in the event of 

a pending court or formal administrative 

proceeding, when the information is 

relevant and necessary to that 

proceeding, for the purpose of 

representing the government, or in the 

course of presenting evidence, or the 

information may be produced to parties 

or counsel involved in the proceeding in 

the course of pre-trial discovery. 

7. Contractors. Information from a 

system may be disclosed to contractors, 

agents, experts, consultants, or others 

performing work on a contract, service, 

cooperative agreement, job, or other 

activity for NSF and who have a need 

to access the information in the 

performance of their duties or activities 

for NSF. 

8. Audit. Information from a system 

may be disclosed to government 

agencies and other entities authorized to 

perform audits, including financial and 

other audits, of the agency and its 

activities. 

9. Law Enforcement. Information from 

a system may be disclosed, where the 

information indicates a violation or 

potential violation of civil or criminal 

law, including any rule, regulation or 

order issued pursuant thereto, to 

appropriate Federal, State, or local 

agencies responsible for investigating, 

prosecuting, enforcing, or implementing 

such statute, rule, regulation, or order. 

10. Disclosure When Requesting 

Information. Information from a system 

may be disclosed to Federal, State, or 

local agencies which maintain civil, 

criminal, or other relevant enforcement 

information or other pertinent 

information, such as current licenses, if 

necessary, to obtain information 

relevant to an agency decision 

concerning the hiring or retention of an 

employee, the issuance of a security 

clearance, the letting of a contract, or 

the issuance of a license, grant, or other 

benefit. 

11. To the news media and the public 

when: (1) A matter has become public 


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72798 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 203 / Monday, October 23, 2023 / Notices 

knowledge, (2) the NSF Office of the 

Director determines that disclosure is 

necessary to preserve confidence in the 

integrity of NSF or is necessary to 

demonstrate the accountability of NSF’s 

officers, employees, or individuals 

covered by this system, or (3) the Office 

of the Director determines that there 

exists a legitimate public interest in the 

disclosure of the information, except to 

the extent that the Office of the Director 

determines in any of these situations 

that disclosure of specific information 

in the context of a particular case would 

constitute an unwarranted invasion of 

personal privacy. 

In addition to the above standard 

routine uses, information may be 

routinely disclosed: 

12. To PIs, Co-Pis, and their 

designated individuals (for 

opportunities funded through NSF 

awards), and NSF staff and external 

qualified reviewers (for opportunities 

administered by NSF) for their 

assessment of applicants or nominees 

(and their application materials, where 

applicable), including in the case of 

individuals who have expressed interest 

in such opportunity or provided consent 

to be contacted by opportunities they 

have not applied for, as part of the 

application review process and to 

support operations; and to other 

Government agencies or other entities 

needing information regarding the 

applicants or nominees as part of a joint 

application review process, or in order 

to coordinate programs or policy. 

13. To NSF partners, affiliates, or 

grantees, as well as other entities to 

merge records, to carry out studies for, 

or to otherwise assist NSF with program 

management, implementation, 

evaluation, or reporting. 

14. To applicants (including the 

individual nominee or ultimate 

participant), their nominators or 

reference writers, and the institution 

they are applying to, attending, 

planning to attend, or employed by, 

who may be given information (such as 

name, field of study, and other 

information directly relating to the NSF 

opportunity, review status including the 

admission decision, time of 

participation, whether receiving 

international travel allowance or a 

mentoring assistantship), for purposes 

of facilitating application review and 

admissions decisions, administering the 

program or award, and supporting 

dissemination and student engagement 

activities. 

15. To the Department of Treasury for 

preparation of checks or electronic fund 

transfer authorizations in the case of 

participants receiving stipends directly 

from the Government. 

16. To the National Student 

Clearinghouse, for tracking applicants 

and participants through their 

postsecondary enrollment and 

graduation trajectories, and other thirdparty entities, for the purposes of 

validating contact information, 

disambiguating records, or crosschecking of information, and tracking 

education or employment outcomes. 

17. To an agency or other 

organization, such as the National 

Center for Science and Engineering 

Statistics (NCSES), for the purposes of 

merging or linking needed data for 

monitoring, research, or evaluation 

purposes, to the extent authorized by 

applicable privacy and security laws, 

regulations, and NSF policies and 

guidance. 

18. To the public, about an 

individual’s involvement with NSF 

education and training programs 

(participant name, baccalaureate 

institution, current institution, and field 

of study) for purposes of media releases 

or other public announcements about 

these programs. Other information about 

the individual’s involvement in these 

programs may be publicly disclosed 

with written consent of that individual 

(or, where applicable, the individual’s 

legal guardian or other legal 

representative). 

POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR STORAGE OF

RECORDS: 

Records are stored on electronic 

digital media. 

POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR RETRIEVAL OF

RECORDS: 

Records are retrieved by name, date of 

birth, email, identification number, zip 

code, state, or institution. 

POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR RETENTION AND

DISPOSAL OF RECORDS: 

This System of Records is governed 

by one or more general and/or NSFspecific (Record Group RG–0307) 

records retention schedules approved by 

the National Archives and Records 

Administration (NARA) and applicable 

to NSF proposal, reviewer, and grant 

files and related administrative records. 

These schedules can be found at https:// 

archives.gov. 

ADMINISTRATIVE, TECHNICAL, AND PHYSICAL

SAFEGUARDS: 

The National Science Foundation’s IT 

Security and Privacy program includes 

policies, plans, training, and technical 

safeguards to protect sensitive 

information, including personally 

identifiable information (PII). NSF 

routinely reviews PII in IT systems in 

addition to monitoring technical, 

physical, and administrative controls in 

place to assure that PII is appropriately 

protected. NSF’s major applications and 

general support systems are assessed 

and authorized by NSF’s continuous 

monitoring and ongoing authorization 

program. The authorization process 

requires a thorough security and privacy 

control review. 

All NSF systems are covered by a 

system security plan, and major 

applications and general support 

systems are authorized to operate. 

Applications and devices hosted on the 

NSF network are subjected to extensive 

vulnerability scanning and compliance 

checking against standard security 

configurations. Robust virus protection 

capabilities, anti-malware, and network 

intrusion detection and prevention 

devices provide 24/7 protection against 

external threats. NSF’s strong access 

controls ensure that resources are made 

available only to authorized users, 

programs, processes or systems by 

reference to rules of access that are 

defined by attributes and policies. 

NSF uses the capabilities of a Trusted 

internet Connections (TIC) compliant 

provider for routing agency network 

traffic and uses the federally provided 

intrusion detection system (IDS), 

including advanced continuous 

monitoring and risk management 

analysis. NSF has a well-established 

computer security incident response 

program. NSF’s incident response 

procedures include a strong digital 

forensics capability to investigate and 

review data and identify relevant 

evidence and malicious activity. 

RECORD ACCESS PROCEDURES: 

Follow the procedures found at 45 

CFR part 613 (NSF Privacy Act 

Regulations). 

CONTESTING RECORD PROCEDURES: 

Follow the procedures found at 45 

CFR part 613. 

NOTIFICATION PROCEDURES: 

See 45 CFR part 613. 

EXEMPTIONS PROMULGATED FOR THE SYSTEM: 

None. 

HISTORY: 

This is a new system of records and 

has not been previously published in 

the Federal Register. 

Dated: October 17, 2023. 

Suzanne H. Plimpton, 

Reports Clearance Officer, National Science 

Foundation. 

[FR Doc. 2023–23304 Filed 10–20–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7555–01–P 


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