Supporting Statement A
Introduction to Cancer Research Careers (ICRC) Application (NCI)
Date: August 5, 2019
Check off which applies:
X New
Revision
Reinstatement with Change
Reinstatement without Change
Extension
Emergency
Existing
Federal Government Employee Information:
Name: Agustina Boswell
Address: National Cancer Institute,
9609 Medical Center Drive,
2E134, Rockville, Maryland 20892
Telephone: 240-276-5162
Email: boswellam@mail.nih.gov
Table of Contents Page
A. JUSTIFICATION 1
A.1 Circumstances Making the Collection of Information Necessary 1
A.2. Purpose and Use of the Information COLLECTION 1
A.3 Use of Information Technology and Burden Reduction 2
A.4 Efforts to Identify Duplication and Use of Similar Information 3
A.5 Impact on Small Businesses or Other Small Entities 3
A.6 Consequences of Collecting the Information Less Frequently 3
A.7 Special Circumstances Relating to the Guidelines of 5 CFR 1320.5 3
A.8 Comments in Response to the Federal Register Notice and Efforts to Consult Outside Agency 3
A.9 Explanation of Any Payment of Gift to Respondents 3
A.10 Assurance of Confidentiality Provided to Respondents 3
A.11 Justification for Sensitive Questions 4
A.12 Estimates of Hour Burden Including Annualized Hourly Costs 4
A.13 Estimate of Other Total Annual Cost Burden to Respondents or Recordkeepers 5
A.14 Annualized Cost to the Federal Government 5
A.15 Explanation for Program Changes or Adjustments 6
A.16 Plans for Tabulation and Publication and Project Time Schedule 6
A.17 Reason(s) Display of OMB Expiration Date is Inappropriate 6
A.18 Exceptions to Certification for Paperwork Reduction Act Submissions 6
Attachments
Attachment 1 – Application
Attachment 2 – Reference Letter Module
Attachment 3 – Automated Emails
Attachment 4 – PIA
Attachment 5 - Privacy Act Memo
Justification
This is a new information collection requesting a 3-year approval. The National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) ICRC fellowship program supports NCI's goal of training cancer researchers for the 21st century. Applying to the ICRC program through the ICRC website application is required in order for undergraduates, post-baccalaureate, graduate student candidates to be considered for entry into the program. The purpose of the ICRC Application is to assure that candidates for the ICRC program meet basic eligibility requirements; to assess their potential as future scientists; to determine where mutual research interests exist; and to make decisions regarding which applicants will be proposed and approved for fellowship awards. The information is for internal use to make decisions about prospective fellows and students that could benefit from the ICRC program.
A.1 Circumstances Making the Collection of Information Necessary
The National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) Introduction to Cancer Research Careers (ICRC) fellowship program supports NCI's goal of training cancer researchers for the 21st century. Fellows who come to the NCI through the ICRC program have various educational levels (undergraduates, postbaccalaureate, graduate students) and for varying fellowship periods (3 months to 5 years). Training at the NCI focuses on the development of science, professional, and career skills. Applying to the ICRC program through the ICRC website (https://icrc.nci.nih.gov/) is required in order for candidates to be considered for entry into the program.
This information collection request is to implement the electronic ICRC Application. The ICRC fellowship program fulfills the requirements of the NCI training authority as established under: Section 413 (b) (3) of the Public Health Service Act, 42 USC 285a-2 (b) (3), as amended pertaining to the NCI, which states that the Director, NCI, in carrying out the National Cancer Program . . . shall . . . "support appropriate programs of education and training (including continuing education and laboratory and clinical research training)”. Training early career scientists is a critical part of the NCI mission. NCI’s research enterprise is dependent upon the research efforts of these fellows. Fellows gain comprehensive experience in designing and executing research studies, analyzing data, writing up study results, and in some cases, publishing in peer-reviewed journals.
The purpose of the ICRC Application (Attachment 1) is to assure that candidates for the ICRC program meet basic eligibility requirements; to assess their potential as future scientists; to determine where mutual research interests exist; and to make decisions regarding which applicants will be proposed and approved for fellowship awards. The information is for internal use to make decisions about prospective fellows and students that could benefit from the ICRC program.
Participation in the ICRC program includes U.S. citizens and U.S. permanent residents from populations underrepresented in science and/or financially disadvantaged backgrounds. The full-time fellowship program may include college students, post-baccalaureates who have completed either college or master level degrees; or graduate students.
This request is to implement the electronic version of the ICRC Application (Attachment 1) involving approximately 120 applicants. Prospective ICRC fellows must apply directly to NCI. The ICRC Application is web-based and accessible through the NCI web site: https://icrc.nci.nih.gov/. A pilot of the ICRC was approved by OMB (#0925-0046) and implemented in September 2018 to assess the clarity of the instructions and the functionality of the ICRC system.
Once the application is submitted, the system generates an email request to two references who are asked to submit a letter of recommendation on behalf of the applicant. The email links the references to an online textbox where they can type their reference letter (Attachment 2). Two reference letters are required for each applicant.
Applicants voluntarily submit their information and submission of an ICRC Application is required annually to be considered for the program. The online application was developed in order to save time and resources, and to lessen the burden to the applicants, references, and government employees accessing the applications.
The application is web-based. The applicant will receive an automated email confirming receipt of submission (Attachment 3). In addition, the online application system triggers 12 additional automatic emails for a variety of reasons that include: in process (a submission that has been started but not completed), missing items on a submission, letters of reference, ineligibility, selected, not selected, or alternates for the program, visit accepted, internship offered, offer accepted emails (Attachment 3).
The applicant’s information is stored on information systems that are protected at all entry points by firewalls and intrusion detection devices. Information collected is only made available once an NCI account holder has requested access to the system. The ICRC Program manager will then grant access to these NCI staff (typically scientific staff members or anyone who will be interviewing candidates) who have requested access. Applications for current trainees will be kept in the system for close to one year from the time they apply to when the new cycle opens.
The NCI Privacy Act Coordinator was consulted, and a Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) is required. The PIA has been submitted to the NIH Privacy Act Coordinator for final approval and once received we will submit to OMB. (Attachment 4).
This information will not be collected anywhere else and is unique to the candidate’s application. The ICRC application is unique in that application collection begins in early September and closes in Mid-November. NIH’s application system (NIH Office of Intramural Training & Education Application (OD), OMB # 0925-0299, Expiration Date, 6/30/2019) begins collection in mid-November and closes in early March. This time period would not work for the ICRC program.
There is no impact on small businesses or other small entities.
Applicants can apply once per year, between September and mid-November. Once they submit an application, they cannot modify the application. However, applicants can upload required documents once submitted up until the application deadline. ICRC staff have the ability to modify an application after it has been submitted. The ICRC Application opens annually for applicants on September 1 and closes in mid- November. It is anticipated that this submission will cover the 2019, 2020, and 2021 application cycles.
There are no special circumstances relating to the Guidelines of 5 CFR 1320.5.
The 60-day Federal Register Notice was published on May 10, 2019 (Vol. 84, P. 20642) and allowed 60 days for public comment. No public comments were received.
No efforts have been made to consult with an outside agency.
Neither payments nor gifts will be provided to respondents.
Only applicants will have the ability to initiate their applications using a password protected login of their choice. ICRC program managers will have the ability to review all submitted applications. A group of NCI staff (mainly NCI Principle Investigators) will review all eligible applications and will select the top 18 applicants who will be the ICRC participants. After the 18 candidates have been selected, any NCI staff member can request access to review applications. ICRC program managers manage this access and NCI staff who request access to review application
All information will be kept private to the extent allowable by law. The NIH Privacy Act Officer has reviewed this submission and concluded the information collected is covered by the NIH Privacy Act System of Records Notice (SORN), #09-25-0014, “Clinical Research; Student Records, HHS/PHS/NIH/OD/OID/OE” published on 9/26/2002 (67 FR 60742) (Attachment 5).
Personally Identifiable Information (PII) is collected on the ICRC Application. These include: full name, date of birth, phone number, email, citizenship status, home address, emergency contact name and number, school name, and contact information for two references.
In addition, the ICRC Application asks applicants to indicate how they believe their participation in the program could further diversify the biomedical research consistent with the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) Notice of Interest and Diversity. Applicants will have the opportunity to specify whether they are from an underrepresented population or if they are financially disadvantaged. They are asked to include this information in their diversity statement using terms of their own choosing. If they qualify based on financial disadvantage, they must submit recent tax forms showing that their income is below guidelines issued annually by the Department of Health and Human Services and published in the Federal Register under the title, Low-Income Levels'' Used for Various Health Professions and Nursing Programs Authorized in Titles III, VII, and VIII of the Public Health Service Act.
Respondents apply for the Introduction to Cancer Research Careers (ICRC) fellowship program through the website (https://icrc.nci.nih.gov/). Automated system emails are sent out to applicants at various times throughout the application cycle, all the way right before the candidates begin their fellowship (Attachment 3).
There are two instruments: the application and the reference letter. It is anticipated that 120 applicants will spend approximately one hour completing and submitting the application. For the reference letter, each applicant has 2 references, so it is estimated that there will be 240 respondents. This is a total of 360 respondents (the same 120 for Attachments 1 and 2), and then an additional 240). The total estimated burden for this information collection is 246 hours (Table A.12-1), which amount to a total of 738 hours over a three-year information collection period.
Table A.12-1. Estimated Annualized Burden Hours:
Form Name |
Type of Respondent |
Number of Respondents |
Number of Responses Per Respondent |
Average Time Per Response (in hours) |
Total Annual Burden Hours |
Application |
Individuals |
120 |
1 |
1 |
120 |
Reference Letter |
Individuals |
240 |
1 |
30/60 |
120 |
Totals |
|
|
360 |
|
240 |
The annualized cost to the respondents is estimated to be $7,193.64 (Table A.12-2) or approximately $21,580.92 over a three-year information collection period.
Table A.12-2. Annualized Cost to the Respondents
Type of Respondent |
Total Annual Burden Hours |
Hourly Wage Rate* |
Respondent Cost |
Individual: Applicant |
120 |
$24.34* |
$2,920.80 |
Individual: Reference Letter |
120 |
$34.39** |
$4,126.80 |
Total |
240 |
|
$7,193.64 |
*The mean hourly wage rate for the ICRC applicants is cited from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, All Occupations, Occupation Code 00-0000. https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_nat.htm.
There are no capital costs, operating costs, or maintenance costs to report.
The annualized cost to the Federal Government for the proposed data collection effort is estimated to be $87,525.82 (Table A.14-1). The ICRC federal personnel are responsible for reviewing and distributing the applications. The contractor tasks include the design and management of the ICRC Application.
Table 14-1 Annualized Cost to the Federal Government
Staff |
Grade/Step |
Salary** |
% of Effort |
Fringe (if applicable) |
|
Federal Oversight |
|
|
|
|
|
Program Manager |
12/2 |
$86,179 |
50% |
|
$43,089.50 |
Chief, Workforce Development Branch |
14/7 |
$143,632 |
1% |
|
$1,436.32 |
Contractor Cost |
|
|
|
|
|
Travel |
|
|
|
|
$0 |
Other Cost |
|
|
|
|
$0 |
Total |
|
|
|
|
$87,525.82 |
**The salary in the table above is cited from https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/salaries-wages/2019/general-schedule/
This is a new information collection request.
There are no plans for tabulation or publication of the ICRC Application. The information collected will be used to assess the appropriateness of applicants to the ICRC program and to communicate accepted applicant’s qualifications to prospective NCI mentors for fellowship placement.
The ICRC Application opens annually for applicants on September 1 and closes mid-November. It is anticipated that this submission will cover the 2019, 2020, and 2021 application cycles.
The OMB Expiration Date will be displayed as shown on the application and reference letter request.
This request will comply with the requirements in 5 C.F.R. 1320.9.
| File Type | application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document |
| File Title | Supporting Statement 'A' Preparation - 04/05/2011 |
| Subject | Supporting Statement 'A' Preparation - 04/05/2011 |
| Author | OD/USER |
| File Modified | 0000-00-00 |
| File Created | 2021-01-15 |