0740 Supporting Statement A-2019 (2)

Supporting Statement A

Conference, Meeting, Workshop, and Poster Session Registration

Generic Clearance (OD)

EXTENSION

OMB#0925-0740 Expiration Date: 5/2019

May 31, 2019

Mikia P. Currie

Branch Chief, Project Clearance Officer

National Institutes of Health

OPERA/OER/OD

6705 Rockledge Drive Suite 350 Room 3505

Desk:301-435-0941

Email: curriem@od.nih.gov

List of Attachments

Attachment 1 – Privacy Act/SORN Letter

Attachment 2 – Submission Template

Attachment 3 – Published 30-day Notice

Table of contents

A. JUSTIFICATION

A.1 Circumstances Making the Collection of Information Necessary

A.2. Purpose and Use of the Information COLLECTION

A.3 Use of Information Technology and Burden Reduction

A.4 Efforts to Identify Duplication and Use of Similar Information

A.5 Impact on Small Businesses or Other Small Entities

A.6 Consequences of Collecting the Information Less Frequently

A.7 Special Circumstances Relating to the Guidelines of 5 CFR 1320.5

A.8 Comments in Response to the Federal Register Notice and Efforts to Consult Outside Agency

A.9 Explanation of Any Payment of Gift to Respondents

A.10 Assurance of Confidentiality Provided to Respondents

A.11 Justification for Sensitive Questions

A.12 Estimates of Hour Burden Including Annualized Hourly Costs

A.13 Estimate of Other Total Annual Cost Burden to Respondents or Record keepers

A.14 Annualized Cost to the Federal Government

A.15 Explanation for Program Changes or Adjustments

A.16 Plans for Tabulation and Publication and Project Time Schedule

A.17 Reason(s) Display of OMB Expiration Date is Inappropriate

A.18 Exceptions to Certification for Paperwork Reduction Act Submissions

Abstract

NIH is extending this generic clearance to provide a quick and efficient process to create registration forms and abstract request for NIH sponsored conferences, meetings, workshops, poster sessions, presentations, panels and other educational resource projects and activities. Means of obtaining the information can be made and presented either in person or online. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) directly sponsors, organizes, and conducts research-related activities such as conferences, workshops, meetings, poster sessions, and training courses. These activities are designed to be relevant to the current state of research in a given field or to the current stage of participants’ research projects or careers, and other resource limitations also determine the number of possible participants. In order for such activities to be timely and to optimally use available resources to address needs and opportunities within the research community, it is necessary for NIH to have a means to register and select the most appropriate participants, according to the type or purpose of a given activity.

A.1 Circumstances Making the Collection of Information Necessary

Section 413 (b) (3) of the Public Health Service Act, 42 U.S. Code § 285 gives NIH the authority to collect this information. NIH directly sponsors, organizes, and conducts research-related activities such as conferences, workshops, meetings, poster sessions, and training courses. In order for such activities to be timely and to optimally use available resources to address needs and opportunities within the research community, it is necessary for NIH to have a means to select the most appropriate participants, according to the type or purpose of a given activity.

For example, registration allows the programs to plan for meetings, workshops etc. to allow organizers to target advertising and compile proper resources and tools for participants. The use of poster sessions will efficiently communicate concepts and data to an audience using a combination of visuals and text. Poster presentations often are the first opportunities for investigators to present their work at important scientific meetings.

In order to effectively reach our target audiences, attendees are asked to submit an application or abstract for prescreening to be selected for poster presentations, speaking panels, training courses or other limited capacity activities.

A.2 Purpose and Use of the Information Collection

The information collection encompassed by this generic clearance continues to allow NIH to select the most appropriate participants for non-grantee activities sponsored, organized, and run by NIH staff, according to the type and purpose of the activity. For example, NIH may develop an application process or information collection to select a limited number of researchers to participate in a poster session, identify speakers and panelists with desired expertise on a specific topic to be covered at a meeting, or determine which researchers would mostly likely benefit from a training course or other opportunity. For NIH to plan and conduct activities that are timely for participants in their field of research, it is often necessary for such information to be collected within a relatively short turnaround time. In general, submitted abstracts or other application materials will be reviewed by an internal NIH committee responsible for planning the activities. This committee will be responsible for selecting and notifying participants.

The information collected for these activities generally include title, author(s), and institution/organization. An example of a Poster session or Speaker panel application form may ask for an abstract describing the research being presented, in addition to instructions regarding poster size and character limitations along with other requirements. This information is necessary to identify attendees eligible, present research, speak on panels, and discuss innovative approaches to science and technology for poster presentations among their peers. The registration form collects information from interested parties to register them and obtain the necessary qualifications for conferences, meetings, workshops, poster sessions, presentations and panels.

There have been 57 projects approved under this generic clearance since its approval three years ago, all contributing significantly to the mission of NIH.

A.3 Use of Information Technology and Burden Reduction

If appropriate, programs will collect information electronically and/or use online collaboration tools to reduce burden. Screenshots will be provided for all online data collection instruments. A Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) will be completed for all online requests.

A.4 Efforts to Identify Duplication and Use of Similar Information

No similar data are gathered or maintained by the agency or available from other sources known to the agency.

A.5 Impact on Small Businesses or Other Small Entities

Small business or other small entities may be involved in these efforts, but the agency will minimize the burden on them by sampling, asking for readily available information, and using short, easy-to-complete information collection instruments.

A.6 Consequences of Collecting the Information Less Frequently

Forms will be submitted on an as needed basis.

A.7 Special Circumstances Relating to the Guidelines of 5 CFR 1320.5

There are no special circumstances. The information collected will be voluntary and will not be used for statistical purposes.

A.8 Comments in Response to the Federal Register Notice and Efforts to Consult Outside Agency

The 60-day notice was published on March 12, 2019 Volume 84, Page 8882. No public comments were received.

A.9 Explanation of Any Payment of Gift to Respondents

Monetary gifts or payments will not be made to attendees for completing any of the data collection instruments. On occasions, attendees may receive informational materials, tokens or souvenirs.

A.10 Assurance of Confidentiality Provided to Respondent

Personal Identifiable Information (PII) will only be collected to the extent necessary. Respondents will be assured that neither their participation nor lack of participation will have any effect on their eligibility for receipt of services. In addition, respondents will be advised of the purpose of the information collection, the use of information collection, NIH sponsorship, that their participation is voluntary, and that they may choose to discontinue or have their name and/or related information withdrawn at any time. In instances where it is possible, information will be presented in an aggregate form without links to the identity of individual participants. The Privacy Act applies to the information collection per Privacy Act System of Records Notice (SORN) 09-25-0156, “Records of Participants in Programs and Respondents in Surveys Used to Evaluate Program of the Public Health Service, HHS/PHS/NIH/OD”.

It may be necessary for some information collections to retain name and contact information to be used to contact potential respondents. In these instances, the rationale for retention of PII will be fully explained.

A.11 Justification for Sensitive Questions

PII will be collected for some request initially, but all data will be fully and permanently de-identified upon event completion. Most questions that will be asked are typically not considered sensitive.

A.12 Estimates of Hour Burden Including Annualized Hourly Costs

Participants in these activities may include research in academia or industry, clinicians, patients and patient’s advocacy organizations, other non-governmental organizations, and members of the public. A variety of instruments and platforms will be used to collect information from respondents and each sub-study will vary by number of respondents and average time per response.

Estimated Annualized Burden Table

Type of Form	Number of Respondents	Number of Responses per Respondent	Average Burden (in hours) per Response	Total Burden Hours
Conferences	2,500	1	1	2,500
Meetings	2,500	1	45/60	1,875
Workshops	2,500	1	30/60	1,250
Poster Session	1,000	1	1	1,000
Panels	1,500	1	30/60	750
Presentations	1,500	1	1	1,500
Total		11,500		8,875

A.12 - 2 Annualized Cost To Respondents

These estimates are based on the following data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics: the General Public rate was obtained from the https://www.bls.gov/oes/2017/may/oes_nat.htm#00-0000

occupation title “All occupations” occupation code 00-0000. The Health Professionals wage rate was obtained from https://www.bls.gov/oes/2017/may/oes_nat.htm#00-0000occupation title “Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations”, occupation code 29-0000; and the Health Educators wage rate was obtained from http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes211091.htm, occupation code 21-1091.

Type of Respondents	Number of Respondents	Hourly Respondent Wage Rate	Respondent Cost
General Public	500	$22.33	$11,165.00
Health Professionals	9,000	$35.93	$323,370.00
Health Educators	2,000	$27.94	$55,880.00
TOTAL	11,500		$390,415.00

A.13 Estimate of Other Total Annual Cost Burden to Respondents or Record

There are no additional costs of than a respondent’s time.

A.14 Annualized Cost to the Federal Government

The annualized cost to the Federal Government for the proposed data collection effort is $12,065.

Cost Descriptions	Grade/Step	*Salary	% of Effort	Fringe (if applicable)	Total Cost to Gov’t
Federal Oversight
Branch Chief	GS-14, Step 6	$136,725	10%		$ 13,672.50
Contractor Cost
Travel
Other Cost
Total					$13,672.50

*Salary/Wage Source: Office of Personnel Management https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/salaries-wages/salary-tables/pdf/2019/DCB.pdf for various GS-levels

A.15 Explanation for Program Changes or Adjustments

This is an extension of a currently approved submission. There are no changes to this submission from the previously approved submission. Additionally, there are no changes in the burden being requested.

A.16 Plans for Tabulation and Publication and Project Time Schedule

The information collected through this request is primarily for internal review and will not be published. However, for certain activities information submitted by accepted participants, such as research abstracts to be presented in a poster session, may be published on an NIH website or included in a printed or online program for the activity or subsequent publication describing the activity.

A.17 Reason(s) Display of OMB Expiration Date is Inappropriate

We are not seeking a waiver of this requirement. There are no reasons to preclude display of the OMB expiration date on the questionnaires.

A.18 Exceptions to Certification for Paperwork Reduction Act Submissions

There are no exceptions to the certification statement.