1. Tracking Demographic Data of SC Performers Linda G. Blevins, Ph.D. Office of Basic Energy Sciences Office of Science, U.S. Department of Energy August 3, 2006 BASIC ENERGY SCIENCES – Serving the Present, Shaping the Future http://www.science.doe.gov/bes

2. 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

3. Grants.gov DOE IIPS SC IMSC Principal Investigator proposal/ application proposal/ application data from proposal/ application proposal/ application SC hard drive P:\ IIPS The Path Taken by a Proposal Submitted to SC 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.

4. Why can’t 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...."

5. 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

6. Planned Upgrade to DOE IT Systems and its Effect on the Path Taken by a Proposal Grants.gov DOE IIPS SC IMSC Principal Investigator proposal/ application proposal/ application data from proposal/ application proposal/ application SC hard drive P:\ IIPS DOE STRIPES STRIPES = Strategic Integrated Procurement Enterprise System currently being set up and will “go live” in January 2008

7. Two Options for SC Data Collection 1.Use Personal Data Form from Grants.gov. (NSF method) 2.Establish a separate stakeholder registration system, with registration required prior to submitting or reviewing proposals. (NIH method)

8. http://apply.grants.gov/agency/FormLinks?family=3

10. Grants.gov DOE STRIPES SC IMSC Principal Investigator Need to Make IMSC a System Of Records Need to Make STRIPES a System Of Records SC hard drive P:\ IIPS May Need to Add Additional Data Protection On P Drive proposal/ application proposal/ application data from proposal/ application proposal/ application Option #1

11. NIH eRA Commons https://commons.era.nih.gov/commons/

13. Grants.gov DOE STRIPES SC IMSC Principal Investigator SC hard drive P:\ IIPS SC Stakeholder Registration System Need to Create a New System of Records Unique ID # proposal/ application proposal/ application data from proposal/ application proposal/ application Option #2

14. 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@science.doe.gov