NSF/NCSES Organizational Data Use Agreemnt

National Science Foundation
National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics
ORGANIZATIONAL DATA USE AGREEMENT
Data collected by the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES)1 may

be used only for the purpose for which they were obtained – data processing, statistical

analysis, and statistical reporting. Any effort to determine the identity of any respondent or
to use or disclose the information for any purpose other than statistical analysis and

statistical reporting could violate the Confidential Information Protection and Statistical

Efficiency Act of 2018 (CIPSEA); Title 13 United States Code, section nine; section 14(i) of
the National Science Foundation Act of 1950, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 1873(i); and/or the

Privacy Act of 1974 as amended, 5 U.S.C. 552a. NCSES is the designated System Manager for
these Privacy Act systems of records covering this statistical data. 2

NCSES has taken every effort to assure that the confidentiality of the data is carefully
protected. Considerable harm could ensue if there were unauthorized access to or

disclosure by any user of the data, of identifiable information concerning a respondent to

the survey. The organization using these data accepts an obligation equivalent to that of the
releasing organization (NCSES) to protect the file against unauthorized access and
disclosure of data. Therefore, the receiving organization agrees to:

1. Use the files only for statistical and research purposes as authorized by NCSES; no

attempt will be made to identify or contact individual survey respondents unless such
identification is directly related to survey administrative tasks authorized by NCSES.

NCSES collects data through the following surveys: Early Career Doctorates Survey, Survey of Earned
Doctorates, Survey of Doctorate Recipients, National Survey of College Graduate, National Survey of Recent
College Graduates, Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering, National
Training, Education, and Workforce Survey, Survey of Postdocs at FFRDCs, Annual Business Survey, Business
Enterprise Research and Development Survey, Business R&D Innovation Survey- Microbusiness, FFRDC
Research and Development Survey, Higher Education Research and Development Survey, Nonprofit Research
Activities Survey, Survey of Federal Funds for R&D, Survey of Federal Science and Engineering Support to
Universities, Colleges, and Nonprofit Institutions, and the Survey of State Government Research and
Development.
2 The U.S. Census Bureau is the designated manager for the system of records for the NSCG and NTEWS.
1

Last Modified: 2/18/2022

2. Release information from the data only in statistical summaries that do not disclose
information about any individual survey respondent.

3. Not release the data or any data product to any other organization or person without
prior approval from NCSES.

4. Have all subcontractor organizations sign the Organizational Data Use Agreements and
return the originals to NCSES.

5. Have all employees (including subcontractor employees) who have the potential to

interact with the data, sign the Individual Data Use Agreement and return the original
to NCSES.

6. Not link the data with any other system of records unless such a task is formally
approved by NCSES.

7. Inform the NCSES Chief Statistician and NCSES Confidentiality Officer of any data
violations within one hour of discovery.

8. Return any copies of the data to NCSES at the completion of the contract or license

agreement. No copies of the file or confidential data will be retained by the receiving
organization.

As the authorized representative of this organization, I hereby agree that this organization
and its employees will comply with the provisions specified above and the confidentiality
laws cited above.

Name: __________________________________________________________________________________________
Signature: _____________________________________________________________________________________

Position Title: _________________________________________________________________________________
Organization: _________________________________________________________________________________
Date: ____________________________________________________________

NOTE: Data Use Agreements must be renewed annually to continue access to
confidential data.
Last Modified: 2/18/2022

OMB requires that all individuals (e.g., NCSES staff, contractors, researchers) who work with
confidential data must undergo annual training on confidentiality laws and best practices to keep
respondent information confidential. As noted in the Confidential Information Protection and
Statistical Efficiency Act of 2018, NCSES is responsible for “training their officers, employees,
and agents in their legal obligations to protect the confidentiality of individually identifiable
information.”
All NCSES employees, onboarded contractors, and external contractors are required to
complete the 2022 NCSES Data Confidentiality Training by March 31, 2022.
For your convenience, we are offering the training via LearnNSF. Training on LearnNSF is best
taken when on the NSF network and/or when using VPN. The use of VDI is discouraged because
it doesn’t always recognize some fonts in LearnNSF courses and it omits letters out of some
words. NCSES employees and onboarded contractors should complete the training through
LearnNSF.
Please access LearnNSF >> LearnNSF Data Confidentiality Training for Internal Users
From LearnNSF, in the “Find Learning” window, type “Data Confidentiality Training” then Go.

Select the course title: NCSES Data Confidentiality Training 2022 and Start the Course.
Your LearnNSF Learning History will include a confirmation that you completed the course. The
confirmation appears immediately if you complete the online course.

External Contractors who do not have internal access to NSF systems or staff that use VDI,
please use the link below. For those accessing the course from the link below, they have to print
the certificate to certify that they’ve completed the course.
NCSES Data Confidentiality Training 2022 | Review 360 (articulate.com)
To complete the NCSES Data Confidentiality Training 2022 online:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Complete the course (note: the course runs best in Internet Explorer).
Download a copy of your quiz score available near the end of the course.
Download and sign the Completion Certificate at the end of the course.
Upon completion of the course, please return the quiz score printout from the
training and signed completion certificate to me (amcqueen@nsf.gov) as soon as
possible.

If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to let me know.
Sincerely,

Adrian McQueen
Information Technology Specialist/NCSES Licensing Coordinator
National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES)
National Science Foundation
2415 Eisenhower Avenue
Alexandria, VA 22314
Direct: 703-292-7807
Main: 703-292-8780
Fax: 703-292-9092
Email: amcqueen@nsf.gov