Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; Comment Request

AGENCY:

National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

NARA is giving public notice that the agency proposes to request use of NA Form 3035, Applicant Background Survey, to obtain source of recruitment, ethnicity, race, and disability data on job applicants. The information will be used to determine if the recruitment is effectively reaching all aspects of the relevant labor pool. The information will also be used to determine if there are proportinate acceptance rates at various stages of the recruitment process. The public is invited to comment on the proposed information collection pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1955.

DATES:

Written comments must be received on or before July 31, 2000 to be assured of consideration.

ADDRESSES:

Comments shoulod be sent to: Paperwork Reduction Act Comments (NHP), Room 3200, National Archives and Records Administration, 8601 Adelphi Rd, College Park, MD 20740-6001; or faxed to 301-713-6913; or electronically mailed to tamee.fechhelm@arch2.nara.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Requests for additional information or copies of the proposed information collection and supporting statement should be directed to Tamee Fechhelm at telephone number 301-713-6730, or fax number 301-713-6913.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Public Law 104-13), NARA invites the general public and other Federal agencies to comment on proposed information collections. The comments and suggestions should address one or more of the following points: (a) Whether the proposed information collection is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of NARA; (b) the accuracy of NARA's estimate of the burden of the proposed information collection; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (d) ways, including the use of information technology, to minimize the burden of the collection of information on respondents. The comments that are submitted will be summarized and included in the NARA request for Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval. All comments will become a matter of public record. In this notice, NARA is soliciting comments concerning the following information collection:

Title: Applicant Background Survey.

OMB number: 3095-NEW.

Agency form number: NA Form 3035.

Type of review: Regular.

Affected public: Applicants for NARA jobs.

Estimated number of respondents: 16,600.

Estimated time per response: 5 minutes.

Frequency of response: On occasion (when applicant wishes to apply for a job at NARA).

Estimated total annual burden hours: 1,383 hours.

Abstract: NARA is below parity with the relevant Civilian Labor force representation for many of our mission-critical occupations, and has developed a 10-year Strategic Plan to improve representation and be more responsive to the changing demographics of the country. The only way to determine if there are barriers in the recruitment and selection process is to track the groups that apply and the groups at each stage of the selection process. There is no other objective way to make these determinations and no source of this information other than directly from applicants.

The information is not provided to selecting officials and plays no part in the selection of individuals. Instead, it is used in summary form to determine trends over many selections within a given occupation or organizational area. The information is treated in a very confidential manner. No information from this form is entered into the Personnel File of the individual selected, and the records of those not selected are destroyed after the conclusion of the selection process.

The format of the questions on ethnicity and race are compliant with the new OMB requirements and are identical to those used in the year 2000 census. This form is a simplification and update of a similar OPM applicant background survey used by NARA for many years.

This form is used to obtain source of recruitment, ethnicity, race, and disability data on job applicants to determine if the recruitment is effectively reaching all aspects of the relevant labor pool and to determine if there are proportionate acceptance rates at various stages of the recruitment process. Response is optional. The information is used for evaluating recruitment only, and plays no part in the selection of who is hired.