State Government R&D Survey

Attachment B1

Dear [insert State Coordinator Name],

Thank you for serving as [insert state name]’s coordinator for the FY 2020 Survey of State Government Research and Development. This survey is conducted jointly by the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics within the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the U.S. Census Bureau.

Attached to this email is an Excel Workbook application listing the state agencies, which are most likely to conduct or fund research and development (R&D) activities.

We need your assistance to review the list and identify which state agencies will be surveyed for your state’s R&D expenditures.

The State Coordinator Excel Workbook will enable you to see the list of agencies in your state, which are most likely to conduct or fund R&D. Please do the following:

1.      Verify/revise agency contact information.

2.      Designate agencies as either:

• Active – currently conducting or performing R&D activities or funding others to conduct R&D through grants, contracts, or other mechanisms;

• Inactive – not currently involved in performing or funding R&D activities.

3.  Provide any information regarding state agency status or other pertinent information in the notes section.

Once completed, please save your information in the application, and e-mail your revised State Coordinator Excel Workbook to the U.S. Census Bureau at: erd.sgrd@census.gov

The deadline for final State Coordinator responses is October 30, 2020.

Included in this email is a sample script for use in emailing your agencies to alert them about the upcoming survey. The text is only a sample and can be modified to fit your specific need. A list of active agency email addresses can be obtained by clicking ‘General List of Active Agencies/Departments’ to send agencies alert emails regarding the survey.

A copy of the agency questionnaire and definitions is attached to this email for your reference. Respondents will be asked to complete the questionnaire and email it back to Census.

Some states have situations where it is unclear whether expenditures for certain organizations should be considered part of your state’s survey response.  For example, your state legislature may have authorized a quasi-public commission with R&D as part of its mission, or established a special board to distribute Tobacco Settlement funds.  If these or similar examples are applicable to your state, please contact our survey staff to discuss appropriate reporting for the Survey of State Government R&D.

Thank you again for serving as state coordinator and helping us ensure that the most accurate agency information is reported for your state.

Vicki Kuppala

Survey of State Government Research and Development

U.S. Census Bureau

1-888-340-7525 erd.sgrd@census.gov

OMB Number

This collection has been approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The eight-digit OMB approval number is 0607-0933. Without this approval, we could not conduct this survey.

Authority and Confidentiality

Title 13 United States Code, Section 8(b), Title 42 United States Code, Sections 1861-76 (National Science Foundation Act of 1950 as amended), and Section 505 within the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 authorize the Census Bureau to conduct this collection on behalf of the National Science Foundation and to request your voluntary assistance. These data are subject to provisions of Title 13, United States Code, Section 9(a) exempting data that are customarily provided in public records from rules of confidentiality.

Burden Estimate Statement

Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 1 hour per response. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden to: ECON Survey Comments 0607-0933, U.S. Census Bureau, 4600 Silver Hill Road, Room EMD-6K064, Washington, DC 20233. You may e- mail comments to ECON.Survey.Comments@census.gov. Be sure to use ECON Survey Comments 0607-0933 as the subject.