[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 113 (Tuesday, June 12, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 27353-27354]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-12616]


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NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION


Notice of Intent To Seek Approval To Establish an Information 
Collection

AGENCY: National Science Foundation.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The National Science Foundation (NSF) is announcing plans to 
request establishment and clearance of this collection. In accordance 
with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, we are 
providing opportunity for public comment on this action. After 
obtaining and considering public comment, NSF will prepare the 
submission requesting that OMB approve clearance of this collection for 
no longer than one year.

DATES: Written comments on this notice must be received by August 13, 
2018 to be assured of consideration. Comments received after that date 
will be considered to the extent practicable.

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION CONTACT: Suzanne H. Plimpton, Reports 
Clearance Officer, National Science Foundation, 2415 Eisenhower Avenue, 
Room W18000, Alexandria, Virginia 22314; or send email to 
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#a8dbd8c4c1c5d8dcc7e8c6dbce86cfc7de"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="c9bab9a5a0a4b9bda689a7baafe7aea6bf">[email protected]</span></a>. Individuals who use a telecommunications device for 
the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 
1-800-877-8339, which is accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 
days a year (including federal holidays).
    Instructions: Please submit one copy of your comments by only one 
method. All submissions received must include the agency name and 
collection name identified above for this information collection. 
Commenters are strongly encouraged to transmit their comments 
electronically via email. Comments, including any personal information 
provided become a matter of public record. They will be summarized and/
or included in the request for Office of Management and Budget approval 
of the information collection request.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title of Collection: Survey of NSF INCLUDES Principal Investigators 
and Program Participants.
    OMB Control Number: 3145--NEW.
    Type of Request: Intent to seek approval to establish an 
information collection.
    Abstract: The primary objective of the survey is to collect data on 
the formation of partnerships between Alliance grantees and 
collaborating organizations for the National Science Foundation (NSF) 
Inclusion Across the Nation of Communities of Learners of 
Underrepresented Discoverers in Engineering and Science (INCLUDES) 
initiative. These data will be used to understand how these 
partnerships form a network infrastructure for leveraging innovative 
strategies and approaches to eradicate the persistent lack of diversity 
and underrepresentation in science, technology, engineering, and 
mathematics (STEM) fields. The goal of NSF INCLUDES is to support 
pioneering models, networks, partnerships, and research that enable the 
U.S. STEM workforce to thrive by ensuring all groups are represented in 
percentages comparable to their representation in the U.S. population. 
NSF INCLUDES Alliances leverage the collective efforts of launch pilot 
grantees, which have proposed and implemented diverse change strategies 
at a small scale, to catalyze NSF's broadening participation (BP) 
investments. Alliances build on the activities of launch pilot 
grantees, partners, collaborators, and networks to propose and 
implement solutions to address the barriers that result in 
underrepresentation in the STEM enterprise.
    Data from the survey will provide NSF with critical information 
about the impact of networked, collaborative approaches on broadening 
participation in STEM. These data will also provide an understanding of 
the specific ways in which the change process of a networked, 
collaborative approach meets NSF's goal of scaling innovative solutions 
to this pervasive and complex problem. Additionally, these data will 
provide an understanding for how the NSF INCLUDES approach can be used 
by other federal agencies to address similarly difficult problems. This 
survey is one component of a research design that includes extensive 
analysis of secondary data; however, an understanding of network 
formation and interaction requires primary data collection from network 
participants. This type of data is not currently being collected 
elsewhere and is critical to developing a real-world understanding of 
how organizations work together within a federally funded 
collaborative.

[[Page 27354]]

    The survey will collect the following data on entities within the 
Alliances:
    <bullet> Partnerships and partnership history
    <bullet> Frequency of interactions
    <bullet> Types of interactions (goal alignment, activity 
coordination, etc.)
    Respondents will be informed in advance that they will be receiving 
surveys, and they will be sent URL information for completing the 
surveys through email communication.
    Need and Use of the Information: The primary purpose of this survey 
is to inform NSF about how organizations network and collaborate within 
the NSF INCLUDES initiative to leverage expertise and strategies to 
eliminate barriers to access to STEM for underrepresented minorities. 
These data will be used in conjunction with secondary data by the NSF 
INCLUDES contractor for program evaluation in conducting a social 
network analysis (SNA) of Alliance grantees and their partners. From 
the survey and SNA, NSF will gain an understanding of how participants 
in the NSF INCLUDES initiative have formed a ``network of networks'' to 
implement programs to increase diversity in STEM. Further, the data 
will show the strength and health of the network, indicating if and how 
participants increase capacity to address the problem by developing 
partnerships with other organizations. Through understanding how a 
networked, collaborative approach works to reduce the pervasive impact 
of a lack of diversity in STEM, NSF and other federal agencies can 
learn from and utilize similar strategies to address persistently 
difficult and complex issues.
    Affected Public: The population for the survey includes all 
organizations that are NSF INCLUDES Alliance grantees. These 
organizations represent a variety of organization types, including 
universities, federal research laboratories, PreK-12 schools, and 
nonprofits. The survey requests that one individual from each 
organization provide responses that represent the networking activities 
of that organization.
    Total Respondents: Approximately 100 individuals representing the 
universe of participating NSF INCLUDES Alliance organizations.
    Frequency: Twice within a time period of approximately 5 months. 
The participating organizations will be surveyed twice to capture 
networking activity at early and later stages of grants.
    Total Responses: 200.
    Average Time per Response: There are 12 items that a respondent 
needs to answer for each organization in their Alliance. It will take 
approximately 20 seconds to respond to each of these 12 items (4 
minutes/Alliance organization). The total burden is calculated based on 
the time for an Alliance with the average number of 30 organizations 
(30 x 4 = 120 minutes/per administration). Each of the approximately 
100 individuals will take the survey twice for a burden of 240 minutes 
each.
    The survey will take an estimated 120 minutes for each respondent 
to complete. Surveys will be tailored to each of the three Alliances to 
only include the portion of the approximately 100 organizations with 
which the respondent organization has partnered. Each Alliance is 
composed of an estimated 30 organizations.
    Total Burden Hours (annual estimate): 400.

    Dated: June 6, 2018.
Suzanne H. Plimpton,
Reports Clearance Officer, National Science Foundation.
[FR Doc. 2018-12616 Filed 6-11-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7555-01-P


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