Tracking Demographic Data of SC Performers

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Tracking Demographic Data of SC Performers
BASIC ENERGY SCIENCES Serving the Present,
Shaping the Futurehttp//www.science.doe.gov/bes

• Linda G. Blevins, Ph.D.
• Office of Basic Energy Sciences
• Office of Science, U.S. Department of Energy
• August 3, 2006

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Motivation

• Eight of 11 SC COVs recommended SC collect
  demographic data such as gender, ethnicity, and
  career stage for investigators and reviewers.
• SC currently does not do this.
• If SC did collect demographic data, it could do
  the following
• Assess trends in the evolution of science.
• Measure the impact of program changes.
• Identify institutional barriers to full
  participation.
• Raise staff awareness of diversity.
• Tap into the full spectrum of scientific talent.
• As a leader in funding the physical sciences and
  a steward for the national laboratories, SC has a
  responsibility to manage its programs in the most
  professional way.
• It is DOE policy to foster a culture of
  inclusion and respect that values, embraces, and
  promotes diversity.

http//www.sc.doe.gov/measures/cov.html
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The Path Taken by a Proposal Submitted to SC
SC hard drive P\ IIPS
proposal/ application
DOE IIPS
SC IMSC
data from proposal/ application
Principal Investigator
Grants.gov
proposal/ application
proposal/ application
A proposal enters through Grants.gov, passes
through Industry Interactive Procurement System
(IIPS), and is saved by SC staff on a common hard
drive. Data from the proposal are entered into
Information Management for the Office of Science
(IMSC) by SC staff.
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Why cant SC collect demographic data?

• DOE information technology data bases are not
  Systems of Records.

What is a System of Records?

• A System of Records is defined in the Privacy Act
  of 1974 as a "...group of any records under the
  control of any agency from which information is
  retrieved by the name of the individual or by
  some identifying number, symbol, or other
  identifying particular assigned to the
  individual."
• A Record is "...an item, collection, or grouping
  of information about an individual that is
  maintained by an agency, including, but not
  limited to, his education, financial
  transactions, medical history, and criminal or
  employment history and that contains his name, or
  the identifying number, symbol, or other
  identifying particular assigned to the
  individual...."

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Why does being a System of Records matter?

• An agency must publish an announcement of the
  system in the Federal Register, inviting public
  comment
• Identify the government statute(s) and/or
  regulation(s) that allow collection of such data.
  
• Explain
• which data would be collected
• who would see the data
• what it would be used for
• how it would be protected
• Members of the public are allowed to submit
  Privacy Act requests to receive copies of their
  own data and to make corrections.
• Establishing a new System of Records or making
  changes to an existing System of Records is
  estimated to take several months to more than a
  year.

http//www.cfo.doe.gov/execsec/foia.htm
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Planned Upgrade to DOE IT Systems and its Effect
on the Path Taken by a Proposal
SC hard drive P\ IIPS
proposal/ application
DOE IIPS
SC IMSC
DOE STRIPES
data from proposal/ application
Principal Investigator
proposal/ application
Grants.gov
proposal/ application
STRIPES Strategic Integrated Procurement
Enterprise System currently being set up and will
go live in January 2008
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Two Options for SC Data Collection

• Use Personal Data Form from Grants.gov. (NSF
  method)
• Establish a separate stakeholder registration
  system, with registration required prior to
  submitting or reviewing proposals. (NIH method)

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http//apply.grants.gov/agency/FormLinks?family3
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Option 1
May Need to Add Additional Data Protection On P
Drive
SC hard drive P\ IIPS
proposal/ application
data from proposal/ application
DOE STRIPES
SC IMSC
Principal Investigator
proposal/ application
proposal/ application
Grants.gov
Need to MakeSTRIPES a System Of Records
Need to Make IMSC a System Of Records
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NIH eRA Commons
https//commons.era.nih.gov/commons/
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Option 2
SC hard drive P\ IIPS
proposal/ application
data from proposal/ application
DOE STRIPES
SC IMSC
Principal Investigator
proposal/ application
proposal/ application
Grants.gov
Need to Create a New System of Records
SC Stakeholder Registration System
Unique ID
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Conclusions

• The Office of Science does not collect diversity
  data because key DOE computer systems are not
  Privacy Act Systems of Record.
• There are two good options for collecting such
  data if a decision were made to do so.

Thank You! linda.blevins_at_science.doe.gov