DPSAC News
A bi-weekly newsletter from the Division of Personnel Security and Access Control
Providing timely information to help keep NIH safe and secure
September 23, 2020 Issue of DPSAC News

In this issue:
  • DPSAC Main Bethesda Badging Office Will Close from 12:00 PM to 1:00 P.M Starting October 5, 2020
  • NED Portal Users (AOs and ATs): Moratorium on New NED Registrations from October 7 – October 16, 2020
  • Nearly 19,000 NIH Staff Log In to Watch NIH's 5th Virtual Town Hall Hosted by Dr. Collins
  • Enhanced Badge Tracking Status Messages in NED Help Administrators Pinpoint Where Applicants Are in the Badging Process
  • All Staff Eligible for Asymptomatic COVID-19 Testing
  • FAQs: How Do I Renew My PIV Card (HHS ID Badge) During the COVID-19 Pandemic? 
  • AOs Who Wish to Obtain Sponsor Authority
DPSAC Main Bethesda Badging Office Will Close from 12 PM to 1:00 PM
Starting October 5, 2020

Building 10, Room 1C52 (S. Lobby) Hours of Operation Remain Unchanged
Beginning Monday, October 5, 2020, the Division of Personnel Security and Access Control (DPSAC) main offices located in Building 31, Room 1B03 will be closed daily from 12 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. to give staff time for lunch. Operating hours at Building 10, Room 1C52 (South Lobby) remain unchanged. 
 
Hours of Operation and Contact Information

Building 31, 1B03: Badging services will continue to be offered by appointment only Monday through Friday between the hours of 8 a.m.and 5 p.m. Note: the office is closed for lunch from 12 p.m.to 1 p.m. 
If you need to contact DPSAC to schedule an appointment, please email [email protected] or call 301-402-9755.
DPSAC staff will be available to answer email and phone inquiries Monday through Friday between the hours of 8 a.m.and 5 p.m.. 

Building 10, Room 1C52 (South Lobby): The Clinical Center South Lobby location (Room 1C52) continues to offer daily appointments for high-risk customers Monday through Friday from 8 a.m.to 5 p.m. The office is closed for lunch from 11:40 a.m. - 12:40 p.m.
 
Helpdesk: 301-451-4766 (available 6 a.m. – 6 p.m.)  

See also Locating a Badge Enrollment and Issuance Work Station for other locations offering Badge Services.                 
NED Portal Users: (AOs and ATs):
Moratorium on New NED Registrations
from October 7 – 16, 2020
No New Registrations May Be Entered into NED
Between October 7 and October 16, 2020
The NED Team recently announced that NED v5.3 is scheduled to go live on Monday October 19, 2020. This release introduces a redesign of the NED Portal Activate/Register functionality. The NED team plans to share more details about the new NED release later this month.

In preparation for the NED v. 5.3 deployment:

  • Beginning October 7 – October 16, no new individuals may be entered into NED. This functionality will be disabled.

  • If you have already started a NED registration, you have until October 16 to sponsor the individual. If you do not, you will need to resubmit the registration after the moratorium has ended.
 
How does this affect NED Portal users during this period?
AOs/ATs will not be able to access the Activate/Register option from the NED Portal menu bar. However, users can still perform other actions on initiated registrations:

  • AOs/ATs can access the Activate/Register tasks on which they are working by selecting them from the Inbox.
  • AOs can approve submitted registrations.
  • Sponsors can sponsor approved registrations.
  • DPSAC will receive sponsored registrations.

In order to minimize the impact of this temporary moratorium, AOs/ATs may want to start new registrations before October 7 and make sure individuals are sponsored no later than October 16.

Is the NED Portal affected in any other way?
No. No other functions performed by NED users will be affected.

AOs/ATs will be able to access all other options from the NED Portal menu bar as these tasks will remain unaffected:
  • Updates
  • Transfers
  • Deactivations
  • Modifications
  • Badge Renewals

What is the timeline?

October 7 - 16 -- AOs/ATs will be temporarily blocked from entering new registrations but
will still be able to continue working on any registrations they started before October 7
October 16 – Submitted registration tasks must be approved and sponsored by this date.

October 16, 5 p.m. – All unsponsored registration tasks are deleted. Note:These tasks cannot be
saved or recovered.

What happens if a task is deleted?
A deleted task cannot be restored. AOs/ATs will need to start new registrations in NED once NED v. 5.3 goes live on October 19. 

Questions?
Please contact the NED Team at: [email protected].                                                                       
Nearly 19,000 NIH Staff On Hand to Watch NIH's 5th Virtual Town Hall Hosted by Dr. Collins
Over 19,000 NIH staff members logged in to watch in real time the 5th Virtual Town Hall hosted by NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins. Dr. Collins was joined by NIAID Director Dr Anthony Fauci, who answered many of the questions about COVID-19, vaccines and therapeutics. Also on hand to answer questions about Groups C and D return, workplace flexibilities, safety and other topics on the minds of NIHers were Chief People Officer Julie Berko and Director of the Division of Occupational Health and Safety (DOHS) Dr. Jessica McCormick-Ell.

For those of you who may have missed Dr. Collins’s September 19 email, we have provided a link to this important message: From the NIH Director: CORONAVIRUS UPDATE – Town Hall, Safety, Survey, Testing, Flu, Research.  
 
Among the topics covered in his email, Dr. Collins reported that Asymptomatic COVID-19 testing is available to all staff. He also announced that “flu shots will be offered to all federal employees and contractors with a valid NIH ID badge. Importantly, this year you will need to schedule an appointment (no walk-ins) so that we can ensure we’re complying with the NIH COVID-19 Safety Guidance. DOHS is currently testing the registration system used to schedule individual appointments and anticipates sending a message to all NIH staff next week opening registration for a flu shot appointment.
 
For the main NIH campus, the clinic starts on September 28 in the B-1 Cafeteria in Building 10. In the Washington/Baltimore area, off-campus locations also will be available; teleworking staff are encouraged to schedule an appointment at a site closer to their home and avoid the main campus. Clinics will begin simultaneously on NIH satellite campuses across the country. All staff are highly encouraged to get immunized, particularly this year as many symptoms of influenza are similar to COVID-19.”
 
If you missed the Virtual Town Hall meeting, you can view it at: 5th NIH Virtual Town Hall.  
Badge Status Messages in NED Pinpoint Where Applicants are
in the Badging Process
This past spring, NED incorporated several new status messages to help the NIH community know where they are in the badging process. Prior to this latest release, NED did not offer any insight into the completion of background investigation forms. The failure to fully and accurately complete these forms is often the reason for delays in the overall process. 
 
Here is a quick overview of these status messages. Because most of these messages may reveal the need for additional action on the part of the applicant for the process to move forward, they are particularly important:

  • Waiting for DSPAC to send background investigation paperwork: This message indicates that DPSAC has yet to email the individual notifying them to complete the necessary forms. In most instances, this will occur within 1-2 business days. Please note that DPSAC cannot send the forms unless the individual has a Social Security Number (SSN) in the NED system. 

  • Waiting for the individual to complete background investigation paperwork: At this point, DPSAC is waiting for the individual to submit the necessary forms for review. This step may still show for 1-2 business days after the person submits the forms as DPSAC must download them from the online e-QIP portal.

  • Waiting for DSPAC to review background investigation paperwork: Once the person submits the forms, DPSAC must complete a thorough line-by-line review of the forms to ensure completeness and accuracy. Approximately 70% of the forms submitted contain errors or omissions. This step can take from 7-10+ business days depending on the current volume of investigations DPSAC is currently processing.

  • Waiting for individual to correct background investigation paperwork: When DPSAC finds errors or omissions in a person’s investigation paperwork, they will contact the individual via email outlining what corrections are required. Please know that in several instances DPSAC must ask for corrections multiple times as the person corrects some mistakes but not others. NED will continue to show this status message until all errors have been fixed. 

  • Waiting for DSPAC to finalize investigation paperwork and authorize ID badge issuance: This is the final step before the individual will be notified that their ID badge is ready to be issued. This step is typically completed in 1-2 business days as DPSAC must submit the completed paperwork to the Defense Counterintelligence & Security Agency (DCSA) to initiate the background investigation.

  • Waiting for individual to complete enrollment: Enrollment is the process where DPSAC captures the individual’s fingerprints and photograph for the ID badge. The enrollment process is completed in parallel to the background investigation forms, so NED may show two active statuses (e.g., waiting for individual to complete enrollment AND waiting for individual to complete background investigation paperwork). It’s important to look for any/all status messages in bold text. 

Note: some individuals will request paper cards to submit fingerprints prior to arriving at an NIH facility. While individuals can use paper cards to submit initial fingerprints, they will still need to complete the enrollment process (and get fingerprinted a second time). Individuals who submit initial fingerprints as part of the enrollment process will not be fingerprinted twice. 

Please know that at any point in the process, DPSAC is ready to help our customers and answer their questions. The best way to contact our office is via email at [email protected] or via telephone at (301) 402-9755.
All Staff Eligible for Asymptomatic
COVID-19 Testing
The NIH Clinical Center recently announced that it is offering asymptomatic testing to all staff for SARS-CoV-2. While this program was launched with the focus on those already working on site, the Clinical Center has sufficient capacity to provide testing for those who have not returned yet. The program is voluntary but strongly encouraged for those working onsite. Staff must complete the safety video and guidance prior to coming on campus for asymptomatic testing.

Contractors are eligible if they have completed the safety video and guidance and if the prime contract has been modified to support asymptomatic testing at NIH. If you are a contractor interested in participating, please check with your supervisor.

Staff are required to notify their supervisor if they want to get a test at NIH during work time. Staff who come to NIH for testing are not authorized to enter their workspace or any other locations within NIH facilities. Entering your workspace or any other locations within NIH facilities continues to require advance approval from your supervisor.

If, after receiving approval from your supervisor, you want to participate, follow the steps to register. You will need to know your NED ID (it’s the same as the 10-digit Personal Identifier on the back of your PIV card) to enroll. (NOTE: Please use either Chrome, Firefox, IE Edge, or Safari web browsers. To access the site you need to be on NIH VPN, NIH IC CITRIX or a NIH Workstation.)

Please review the asymptomatic testing information on the Frequently Asked Questions page of the NIH Guidance for Staff on Coronavirus intranet site before registering.
Q. How do I go about renewing my PIV Card (HHS ID Badge) during the COVID-19 pandemic? 

A. DPSAC has returned to offering badging services Monday through Friday. Please note: DPSAC will continue to require appointments, with availability between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. 

Note: Starting October 5, 2020, DPSAC will close its Building 31/Room 1B03 offices between 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. for lunch.

If you need to contact DPSAC to schedule an appointment, please email [email protected] or call 301-402-9755. DPSAC staff is available to answer email and phone inquiries Monday – Friday between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.

Avoiding Additional
Delays in Processing
New Hires

Processing times are often delayed due to reasons outside of DPSAC control, which include, but are not limited to:

  • Incomplete or not submitted OF-306
  • Candidate response time
  • Issues requiring clarification by the candidate
  • Untimely submission of initial e-QIP or corrected e-QIP

How the AO and HR communities can assist:
  • By ensuring all required documents have been uploaded into HR's 'Onboarding Manager' prior to establishing a NED account
  • By entering candidates as early as possible but no later than 8 weeks prior to their Entry on Duty (EOD) date
  • By working with DPSAC to ensure candidates respond in a timely manner to inquiries

ALT cards -- should be returned to the IC ALT card coordinator - NOT to DPSAC.
Administrative Officers (AOs) who wish to obtain sponsor authority must complete the sponsor training. To access the training module, click on: Sponsor.

Upon completion, the AO should sign and email a copy of the certificate found at the end of the training module to Alex Salah at: [email protected]. Upon receipt of the certificate, Mr. Salah will authorize the AO as a Sponsor. 

Note: ONLY individuals with an Administrative Officer role in NED are eligible to be HHS ID Badge/PIV Card Sponsors. 
Are there topics you would like to read more about in future issues of DPSAC News?
Please send your suggestions to: [email protected]. Your input is greatly appreciated.
A biweekly e-newsletter from the National Institutes of Health, Office of Research Services, Division of Personnel Security and Access Control (ORS/DPSAC) to keep its readers informed of personnel security and access control policies and practices designed to safeguard the NIH and its workforce. DPSAC is responsible for verifying personal identity, validating suitability, reviewing background checks, authorizing facility access and issuing ID badges for NIH personnel. 

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