'09 OMB Justification

'09 OMB Justification.doc

Panelist Profile Form

OMB: 3135-0098

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Justification - Supporting Statement



  1. Necessity of Information Collection


The National Endowment for the Arts enriches our nation and its diverse cultural heritage by supporting works of artistic excellence, advancing learning in the arts, and strengthening the arts in communities throughout the country.


With the advice of the National Council on the Arts and advisory panels, the Chairman establishes eligibility requirements and criteria for the review of applications for funding. Section 959 ( c ) of the Endowment’s enabling legislation, as amended, directs the Chairman to utilize advisory panels to review applications and to make recommendations to the National Council on the Arts, which in turn makes recommendations to the Chairman.


The legislation requires the Chairman “(1) to ensure that all panels are composed, to the extent practicable, of individuals reflecting a wide geographic, ethnic, and minority representation as well as to (2) ensure that all panels include representation of lay individuals who are knowledgeable about the arts… ” These panels are considered to be committees under the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), which also requires that committees be balance geographically and ethnically. In addition, the membership of each panel must change substantially from year to year and each individual is ineligible to serve on a panel for more than three consecutive years. To assist with efforts to meet these legislated mandates regarding representation on advisory panels, the Endowment has established an Automated Panel Bank System (APBS), a computer database of names, addresses, areas of expertise and other basic information on individuals who are qualified to serve as panelists for the Arts Endowment.


The Panelist Profile Form, for which clearance is requested, is used to gather basic information from qualified individuals recommended by the arts community; arts organizations; Members of Congress; the general public; local, state and regional arts organizations; Endowment staff, and others.


  1. Needs and Uses of Information


Information provided on this Panelist Profile Form has been used to create the Automated Panel Bank System (APBS), a computer database of names, addresses, areas of expertise and other basic information on individuals who are qualified to serve as panelists for the Arts Endowment. This system is used by Endowment staff in the selection and approval of panelists to ensure that the legislative mandates cited above are fulfilled. Resumes are kept on file to supplement the information contained in the database. In addition to providing a more detailed picture of an individual’s suitability for a particular panel, the resume also provides specifics about the individual’s affiliations that are helpful in avoiding possible conflicts of interest with the applications to be reviewed.


  1. Uses of Information Technology


The use of information technology has been a prime consideration in the design of this form. It is designed to provide general expertise and background information through inclusion of numerical codes that are entered into the database. It is hoped that in the future we will have the capability of linking the resumes, which are currently available electronically, to the individual records in our database. The information currently is manually entered into the database, although we hope to be able to transfer information electronically in the future. The form is available electronically, via e-mail. In 2008, approximately 90% of the forms received were in electronic form – sent and received via e-mail, and we now plan to move exclusively to the electronic version of this form. We also anticipate the possibility, through the shared use of the National Endowment for the Humanities’ system, that in the future individuals will be able to enter and submit this information online themselves.


  1. Efforts to Identify Duplication


This form is accompanied by a resume that provides details about an individual’s experience, which the automated system is not equipped to do at this time.


  1. Minimizing the Burden in Small Businesses or Small Entities


Not Applicable


  1. Consequences of Not Conducting Data Collection


Information collected through the use of the Panelist Profile Form is necessary to fulfill the Endowment’s obligation to ensure that the panels adhere to the requirements of FACA and the Endowment’s legislation to provide review panels that are geographically and ethnically diverse. The database also allows us to ensure that, in accordance with our Congressional mandate, no panelist serves for more than three consecutive years. In addition, through our data collection activities we widen the pool of potential panelists who demonstrate diverse ethnic and artistic backgrounds. If the Endowment abandoned it data collection efforts, the Endowment’s ability to fulfill Congress’ mandates would be severely hampered. Any failure to do periodic updates will result in stale and inaccurate information in the database.


  1. Special Circumstances


An individual who wants to be considered for inclusion in the APBS will complete this form once. In order to keep information current, periodic updates will be requested. Additionally, as individuals serve on panels, they are requested to review the information currently on file, and to update the information as necessary. This is to ensure that the records are kept as accurate as possible.


  1. Public Comment and Consultation Outside the Agency


The collection is conducted consistent with the guidelines in 5 CFR 1320.6. A notice in the Federal Register was published on Tuesday, March 8, 2006 (Vol. 71, No. 49, pg. 13169), to solicit comments on the approval of the Panelist Profile Form. (A copy of this notice is attached.) No comments were received.


  1. Payment to Respondents


Not Applicable


  1. Assurance of Confidentiality


Assurance of confidentiality is provided under the terms of the Privacy Act of 1974.


  1. Questions of a Sensitive Nature


No questions of a sensitive nature are included on this form.


  1. Estimated Hour Burden of Respondents


The estimated burden to respondents for this collection is explained in table A-1 below:


A-1 Estimated Response Burden of Data Collection Activities Based on FY 08 Figures


Hour Burden to Respondents



Number of Forms in FY 2008

x



Time to Complete Form

=



Total FY 2008

(Annual) Hour Burden to Respondents


250

x


6% of an hour or 10 minutes

=

41.7 hours


Annualized Cost



There is no cost to the respondent other than that of their time (10 minutes) to respond.



  1. Cost Burden to Respondent


Collection of this information will be done electronically.


  1. Cost to the Federal Government


All Panelist Profile Forms are reviewed and created by employees of the Federal Government, therefore no additional cost is incurred to the government in terms of contracting. With elimination of the paper form, no mailing costs will be incurred.


  1. Explanation of Changes


Although the form itself is not being changed, we will no longer be requesting responders to provide social security numbers and the accompanying instructions have been changed accordingly. .


  1. Statistics


Not applicable. We do not plan to publish data.


  1. Seeking Approval to Not Display OMB Expiration date


Not applicable. We are not seeking this approval.


  1. Exception to the Certificate Statement


Not applicable. There are no exceptions to the certification statements.


File Typeapplication/msword
File TitleJustification - Supporting Statement
AuthorJLM
Last Modified ByKathy Plowitz-Worden
File Modified2009-05-02
File Created2009-05-02

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