The Government Accountability Office (GAO), an agency of the U.S. Congress, is planning to surveyapproximately 700 randomly selected beneficiaries to obtain information on their experiences with and views of the E-rate program. The survey is part of a broader study of the E-rate program, which GAO is conducting at the request of Congress. The results of the survey will be compiled in a report to Congress to be issued later this year. If you receive the GAO E-rate survey, I strongly encourage you to participate.
The goal of the survey is to help GAO provide Congress with the best possible information on how the E-rate program is working and what improvements may be needed to help it work better. Survey recipients will be randomly selected but will be representative of the entire E-rate beneficiary population.
If you are selected for the GAO survey, you will receive an e-mail from GAO within the next few weeks (a few applicants received their e-mail this morning) with instructions on how to access and complete the survey. Individual survey responses will only beviewed by GAO staff assigned to this study. GAO will report the results of the survey in aggregate, and if they discuss any individual answers in their report, they will exclude any information that could be used to tie individual beneficiaries to their responses.
If you receive the survey e-mail, the subject line will be: "E-Rate Program - U.S. GAO Request for Assistance." They ask that the survey be completed by the person or persons with knowledge of and experience with (1) tasks related to the E-rate program, such as preparing forms and responding to information requests, and (2) your entity's technology goals and plans. Because applicants are being notified via e-mail, we suspect that some applicants' surveys will be sent to the applicant's E-rate consultants. If this happens, the consultant may assist with the completion of the survey, but the responses should be completed by the E-rate eligible entity itself.
If you can, please send me a quick e-mail if you receive the GAO survey. I'd like to keep track of how many PA applicants are involved. And of course, when the survey results are compiled and released, I'll share them with you.
-- Julie
717-730-7133 - o
717-730-9060 - f jtschell@comcast.net
www.e-ratepa.org
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