You are applying for the Tech Fundamentals program run by NPower Inc. This program includes, among other things, 16-weeks of hands-on class instruction, a 7-week paid internship, the opportunity to earn industry certification, mentoring and career development, and job placement assistance. NPower wants to learn about participants’ experiences and if the program is working well. They have asked researchers from the University of Notre Dame and the University of Colorado to help understand how the program works.

We are asking for your permission to use information about you to understand if the program is working well. To do this, we will contact some government and private agencies and ask them to share information they already collect about you. All information about you and your household is held in strict confidence and used for research purposes only.

Here are some examples of the types of information we will ask for:

 -  Information about your employment status and earnings that is collected by the state departments of labor, the Internal Revenue Service, or the Census Bureau to see how income changes over time;

 -  Post-secondary school enrollment and completion from the National Student Clearinghouse;

 -  Information collected by credit agencies about your creditworthiness and use of credit (NOTE: This will not affect your credit score or count against you as an inquiry);

 - Your participation in TANF, Food Stamps (SNAP), or other public or government programs.

Your participation in this study is voluntary, and it will help NPower better provide services to you and others. To thank you for your participation, you will be entered into a drawing where ten applicants from this NPower class will be chosen at random to win a $50 Amazon gift card. You will not be penalized for refusing to participate. If you do choose to participate, you can decide to stop at any point. You will still be able to receive services from NPower if you decide not to participate in the study. You will not face substantial risks if you participate. For research purposes, identifying information from your application will be used to link to data that already exists about you. The agencies will not receive any information from your application other than your name and enough information to find you in the records. Any data that is transferred for the purpose of linking to the records will be encrypted and password protected. We will remove any information that will identify you, such as names, prior to analysis. No identifying information will be used in reporting the study results, and we will never release any information that may identify you. Your privacy is very important to us. In certain circumstances, your data may be made available to other researchers outside the research team for continued research. We will not make available any pieces of information that could be tied back to you.

If you have any questions about the study or your rights as a research participant, you can contact the study directors at [email protected], or reach the Notre Dame Research Compliance office at 574-631-1461 or by email at [email protected] 

If you agree to participate in the study, please type your name below. By providing your electronic signature, you confirm that you are at least 18 years old, and agree to take part in this study.