2017-21168. Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

The Department of Commerce will submit to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for clearance the following proposal for collection of information under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. chapter 35).

Agency: National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

Title: NIST Summer Institute for Middle School Science Teachers (NIST Summer Institute) and the NIST Research Experience for Teachers (NIST RET) Programs Application Requirements.

OMB Control Number: 0693-0059.

Form Number(s): NIST-1103.

Type of Request: Regular submission (Revision of a currently approved information collection).

Number of Respondents: 100.

Average Hours per Response: 1.

Burden Hours: 100.

Needs and Uses: The NIST Summer Institute and the NIST RET are two competitive financial assistance (Cooperative agreement) programs that offer middle school (Grades 6-8) science teachers an opportunity to participate in hands-on activities, lectures, tours, visits, or in scientific research with scientists and engineers in NIST laboratories. The aim is to encourage them to inspire students to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics 9STME) fields. This request is for the information collection for form NIST-1003 that must be completed by nominated teachers. The information is used in making cooperative agreement decisions.

Revisions: The former question 18 on the form has been removed, as this was found not to be pertinent for the program. An additional sentence has been added for question 23 (formerly question 24), ”Please discuss some scientific ideas you would like to learn more about and what information you would like to bring home to your students, as this will assist in planning the modules for the Summer Institute.” Finally, a new question has been added, new question 24, which relates to the RET program, and will help in the evaluation of the applicants to that sub-program.

Affected Public: U.S. public school districts, U.S. accredited private educational institutions, and U.S. middle school (Grades 6-8) science teachers.

Frequency: Annually.

Respondent's Obligation: Required to obtain benefits.

This information collection request may be viewed at reginfo.gov. Follow the instructions to view Department of Commerce collections currently under review by OMB.

Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of this notice to [e-mail] or fax to [phone].

Sheleen Dumas,

Departmental PRA Lead, Office of the Chief Information Officer.