[Federal Register: March 3, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 42)]
[Notices]
[Page 10002-10003]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr03mr04-45]
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CORPORATION FOR NATIONAL AND COMMUNITY SERVICE
Information Collection; Submission for OMB Review; Comment
Request
AGENCY: Corporation for National and Community Service.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The Corporation for National and Community Service
(hereinafter the ``Corporation'') has submitted two public information
collection requests (ICR) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act
of 1995, Public Law 104-13, (44 U.S.C. chapter 35). Copies of these
ICRs, with applicable supporting documentation, may be obtained by
calling the Corporation for National and Community Service, Mr. Ruben
Wiley, at (202) 606-5000, extension 224, (rwiley@cns.gov); (TTY/TDD) at
(202) 606-5256 between the hours of 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. eastern standard
time, Monday through Friday.
Comments may be submitted, identified by the title of each the
information collection activity, by any of the the following two
methods within 30 days from the date of publication in this Federal
Register:
(1) By fax to: (202) 395-6974, Attention: Ms. Katherine Astrich,
OMB Desk Officer for the Corporation for National and Community
Service; and
(2) Electronically by e-mail to: Katherine_Astrich@omb.eop.gov.
The OMB is particularly interested in comments which:
[sbull] Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the
Corporation, including whether the information will have practical
utility;
[sbull] Evaluate the accuracy of the Corporation's estimate of the
burden of the proposed collection of information, including the
validity of the methodology and assumptions used;
[sbull] Propose ways to enhance the quality, utility and clarity of
the information to be collected; and
[sbull] Propose ways to minimize the burden of the collection of
information on those who are to respond, including the use of
appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological
collection techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g.,
permitting electronic submissions of responses.
Description: The Corporation is proposing to renew, with changes,
two currently approved information collection activities:
[sbull] Corporation for National Service Enrollment Form (OMB
3045-0006), and
[sbull] Corporation for National Service End of Term/Exit Form (OMB
3045-0015).
I. Background
The Corporation supports programs that provide opportunities for
individuals who want to become involved in national service. The
service opportunities cover a wide range of activities over varying
periods of time. Upon successfully completing an agreed-upon term of
service in an AmeriCorps program, an AmeriCorps participant receives an
``education award''. This education award can be used to make a payment
towards a qualified student loan or pay for educational expenses at
qualified post-secondary institutions and approved school-to-work
opportunities programs. This award is an amount of money set aside in
the AmeriCorps member's name in the National Service Trust Fund.
Members have seven years in which to draw against any unused balance.
The National Service Trust is the office within the Corporation
that administers the education award program. This involves:
[sbull] Tracking the service for all AmeriCorps members;
[sbull] Ensuring that the requirements of the Corporation's
enabling legislation are met, vis-a-vis the education award;
[sbull] Processing school and loan payments that the members
authorize; and
[sbull] Processing payments for the interest that accrues on
certain qualified student loans during the member's service period.
II. Current Action
The Corporation's Enrollment Form serves two purposes essential to
the functioning of the AmeriCorps program. It is the means by which
programs certify that an individual is eligible to serve in an
AmeriCorps program and the date service has begun. Second, it provides
the Corporation, Grantees, program managers, and Congress with
demographic data on AmeriCorps members.
The Enrollment Form is the beginning-of-service counterpart to the
Corporation's End of Term/Exit Form,
[[Page 10003]]
which concludes the tracking of members at the end of their term of
service.
Submission of the End of Term/Exit form provides legal
certification for the disbursement of an education award to an
AmeriCorps member. It is the document by which an authorized program
official at an AmeriCorps program site indicates whether an AmeriCorps
member is eligible for an education award.
In 1999, the Corporation began using an electronic system to both
enroll and exit AmeriCorps members. Local projects can enter into a
database information about their members' enrollment and completion of
service. This data is transferred to the Trust periodically where it
becomes the official record.
A. ENROLLMENT FORM--(OMB 3045-0006)
Currently, AmeriCorps members use a form entitled Corporation for
National Service Enrollment Form to enroll national service
participants in the AmeriCorps program. The form requests program-
related as well as demographic information. The program information
includes the participant's start date, the code number of the program,
the expected completion date, and whether the term of service is full
or part time. This is the Corporation's sole source of data for
individual members. The demographic information includes background
information on the AmeriCorps member (including gender, marital status,
education level, and reasons for joining).
The program information is used to:
[sbull] Make liability projections for the Trust Fund;
[sbull] Verify national service participation when requested by a
lender who holds an AmeriCorps member's student loan (members are
eligible to have the repayment of certain student loans postponed if
they are participating in national service),
[sbull] Plan and monitor programs (review recruiting efforts,
identify programs with excessive early termination rates, establish and
reconcile program's budgets)
The demographic information is used for recruiting purposes and to
provide the Corporation, program managers, and the Congress with
demographic data on AmeriCorps members.
Type of Review: Renewal.
Agency: Corporation for National and Community Service.
Title: Corporation for National Service Enrollment Form.
OMB Number: 3045-0006.
Agency Number: None.
Affected Public: Individuals about to participate in an AmeriCorps
program.
Total Respondents: 50,000 annually.
Frequency: Once per service period (average of once per year).
Average Time Per Response: Total of 7 minutes (4 minutes for the
AmeriCorps members, and 3 minutes for the program staff).
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 5,833 hours.
Total Burden Cost (capital/startup): None.
Total Burden Cost (operating/maintenance): None.
B. END OF TERM/EXIT FORM--(3045-0015)
The Corporation's End of Term/Exit form is the means by which
AmeriCorps programs certify that a member has, or has not, successfully
satisfied conditions which must be met in order to receive an education
award. When an AmeriCorps member successfully completes a term of
national service, a designated program official certifies that the
service was completed and the individual is eligible for an education
award. The End of Term/Exit form is the document upon which this
certification is recorded.
Additional information requested on the form includes the member's
service completion date, the current address where the education award
documentation should be mailed, and two questions regarding the
member's desire for post service information.
Type of Review: Renewal.
Agency: Corporation for National and Community Service.
Title: Corporation for National Service End of Term/Exit Form.
OMB Number: None.
Agency Number: None.
Affected Public: AmeriCorps members who have ended their term of
national service.
Total Respondents: 50,000 annually.
Frequency: Once per term of service (average of once per year).
Average Time Per Response: 7 minutes, total (4 minutes for the
AmeriCorps members to complete the form and, 3 minutes for the program
staff)
Estimated Total Burden Hours: 5,833 hours.
Total Burden Cost (capital/startup): None.
Total Burden Cost (operating/maintenance): None.
Dated: February 26, 2004.
Ruben Wiley,
Manager, National Service Trust.
[FR Doc. 04-4755 Filed 3-2-04; 8:45 am]