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December 7, 2016 issue of the DPSAC NEWS  


In This Issue

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Division of Personnel Security and Access Control (DPSAC),  

Office of Research Services  

 

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Hours: 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

             Monday - Friday  

 

Personnel Security 

Helpdesk: 301-402-9755

E-mail: orspersonnelsecurity@ 

mail.nih.gov

 

Access Control

Helpdesk: 301-451-4766

E-mail: facilityaccesscontrol@ 

mail.nih.gov

 

       

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NIH Moves to Expedite Hiring in Anticipation of End-of-Year Hiring Actions

In order to expedite the end of year hiring surge, the Office of Human Resources (OHR) and the Division of Personnel Security and Access Control (DPSAC) are working together to expedite hiring actions.

Institute/Center (IC) hiring officials and Administrative Officers (AOs) are encouraged to work with their servicing HR specialist to ensure their candidates are processed as efficiently as the system will allow.

By following a few easy steps, listed below, you will eliminate many of the roadblocks routinely experienced by new hires:  

1. Identify selections quickly
 
2. Immediately and accurately enter required personal and position related data for the selectee into the NIH Enterprise Directory (NED) and fully complete sponsorship.

3. Contact the selectee and let them know they will receive one or two e-mail notifications.

All selectees will receive an email from " [email protected]" requesting the selectee schedule an enrollment appointment for photo/fingerprints.

All selectees should schedule an enrollment appointment as soon as possible. For selectees who are outside the local area, please refer to the DPSAC website for additional enrollment locations.

4. Depending on the position information entered into NED, some individuals will receive an e-mail notification from " [email protected]" inviting them to begin the online portion of their background investigation by entering the e-QIP portal from the Office of Personnel Management's (OPM) secure web server. 

There are additional required forms included as an attachment in the e-QIP invitation e-mail. Explain to the applicant they need to complete the online portion of e-QIP as expeditiously as possible and submit all of the attached forms as well.
 
Administrative Officers (AOs): Don't Abandon a NED Record Just Because You Entered Incorrect Information During the Registration Process

Starting a New NED Registration While an Incorrect Record is Still in the Pipeline Can Compromise Security and Data Integrity

According to the ORS Division of Personnel Security and Access Control (DPSAC) and the Division of International Services (DIS), abandoning an incorrect and incomplete NED record may result in multiple records for the same person, very possibly compromising security and creating data integrity issues.

Unfortunately, there are many opportunities for AOs and applicants to make errors during the NED registration and e-QIP processes, as reported in recent issues of DPSAC News.

Missing and/or incorrect personal information
The September 14, 2016 issue of DPSAC News reported on a DPSAC review of e-QIP errors made by applicants that showed discrepant or inconsistent identifying data, incomplete background data, incomplete mailing addresses and missing forms as the main culprits that caused DPSAC to return e-QIP questionnaires to applicants for correction or completion.

That same article described the most common errors made by AOs during the NED registration process. These include putting in the wrong Social Security Number, putting in the wrong personal e-mail address, putting in the wrong name, putting in the wrong place of birth and date of birth.

AOs who discover they've entered incorrect information when registering a new hire in NED are urged to correct those errors rather than abandon the effort and begin a new NED registration.
 
Citizenship errors
The October 26, 2016 issue of DPSAC News reported again on errors made during NED registration, this time focusing on the applicant's citizenship status. Most often, these errors occur when NED portal users enter Personally Identifiable Information (PII) on behalf of the applicant and make faulty assumptions about the individual's place of birth,
residency or citizenship.

The article underscored the importance of answering questions about citizenship accurately since they help determine the type of ID badge issued to the applicant, how long the badge will be valid, whether the person must visit DIS as part of the badging process and the type of background investigation that must be completed.

Multiple NED records on a foreign national will impede DIS's ability to clear that person for an ID badge
Part of the badging process for foreign nationals requires them to visit the ORS Division of International Services (DIS). Until DIS completes their portion of the badging process, DPSAC cannot proceed with enrollment (i.e., fingerprints/photograph) or send the e-QIP forms to the applicant  
for completion.

When DIS is ready to provide attestation in NED, they are unable to do so if multiple records exist for the same individual. In order for DIS to proceed in providing attestation, the AO will need to void the incorrect record so that only one active record remains.  

The creation of multiple NED records occurs most often after a person has been entered into NED and sponsored for an ID badge. At that point, the AO will be notified that the personal information associated with the NED record is inaccurate. When this occurs, the correct solution is not to create a new NED record using the correct information, but to update the existing NED record to reflect the correct information. This will avoid multiple NED records for the same individual.

Any AO who is not sure how to successfully update an existing record when erroneous information is discovered should submit a ticket to the NIH Service Desk. The Service Desk will have a NED administrator contact the AO and advise him/her on how to successfully correct the necessary information.

If an AO has questions about a citizenship classification, s/he can contact DIS directly. Contact information and hours of operation are posted at: https://www.ors.od.nih.gov/pes/dis/AboutDIS/Pages/default.aspx.
 
CIT to LWS Points of Contact: Expect a Spike in Digital Certificate Update Requests

CIT recently notified all NIH Lifecycle Work Station (LWS) Operators/Points of Contact (POC) about HHS's plans to correct errors in the PIV card digital certificates of about 3,000 people at NIH.


Due to this pending action, LWS operators should expect an increase in requests from affected individuals who will need their digital certificates updated.

Copies of the e-mail that went out to the LWS POCs and a copy of the e-mail that will be sent to those who need to update their digital certificates can be read in the November 23, 2016 DPSAC News.

What LWS Operators Can Do To Help
  • Help people update their digital certificates. The process is the same as if they are renewing their digital certificates.
     
  • If people ask, confirm that the e-mail they received is legitimate and not phishing or SPAM.
If you have any questions, please contact the CIT IAM Smart Card team ( [email protected]).

Helpful Tips

ALT cards --
need to be returned to the IC ALT card coordinator - NOT to DPSAC.

All Building 31 badging services -- Enrollment, Badge Issuance and Customer Service -- now offered at a single, convenient location in 1B03. 
All badging services in Building 31 are available between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. DPSAC will continue to offer Enrollment and Badging services in the South Lobby of the Clinical Center from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on weekdays.

AOs who wish to obtain sponsor authority --
must complete the sponsor training (see: http://www.ors.od.nih.gov/ser/dpsac/Training/Pages/administrators.aspx) and e-mail a copy of your signed certificate to the NIH HSPD-12 Program Office at [email protected]. Upon receipt of the certificate, the Program Office will authorize the AO as a Sponsor.

Please note: ONLY individuals with an Administrative Officer role are eligible to be HHS ID Badge/PIV Card Sponsors.


ICs that want to add Lifecycle Work Station (LWS) operators to the approved roster -- send a written request to Richie Taffet at: [email protected]. Your request should include:  
  • the new operator's name
  • his/her Institute or Center (IC)
  • his/her NED number
  • the operator's e-mail address, building/room and phone number
  • the hours of operation of the Lifecycle Work Station
Once Mr. Taffet has approved the request, he will forward the name(s) to [email protected] to complete the approval process, add the name(s) to the LWS operator roster, and inform the IC that the individual is now approved to operate the LWS.

Need to make changes to the LWS operator directories? -- drop an e-mail to Lanny Newman, [email protected], and let him know what needs changing (e.g., adding new operators or LWS locations, removing operators, etc.). Remember, before a new operator can be added to the LWS directory, s/he must first be approved by Richie Taffet (see preceding Helpful Tip).

If an LWS is not available in your IC or your immediate area, and you work in the greater Bethesda or Rockville area -- please call 301-402-9755 to schedule an appointment with the Division of Personnel Security and Access Control located in Building 31, Room 1B03 or in Building 10, South Lobby, Room 1C52.

If you work outside the Bethesda/Rockville area, contact your local badge issuance office. You can find contact information for all badge issuance offices at: http://www.ors.od.nih.gov/ser/dpsac/Pages/contactinfo.aspx.  

Know someone who should be reading DPSAC News? -- have the person contact Lanny Newman, [email protected], and ask to be put on the mailing list.   

FAQs

Q. It looks like one of our LWS operators lost access to log into the LWS application. What might cause her to lose her access and what can be done to renew her access?
 
A. The U.S. National HHS HSPD12 O&M/Helpdesk Team was able to update this person's access. They noted that when a user receives a certificate update or a new PIV card, his/her LWS access has to be provisioned to their new certificate.

Users may contact the help desk via [email protected] to ask for their LWS permissions to be updated as long as the individual was previously an LWS operator.  


Q.
I was issued a new NIH badge.  It is the same as the old one except for the expiration date and a "W" with a circle around it.  Do you know what the circled "W" means?  I'm both curious and checking to see that I wasn't misclassified in some way.
 
A. Yes. An article in the April 15, 2015 DPSAC News reported that PIV Cards for NIH Full Time Equivalent (FTE) employees will now be printed with a "W" to designate a 'white stripe.' This decal is intended to help the visually impaired distinguish between FTE PIV Card holders (whose names and a "W" are printed across a white 'stripe'), from Contractor or Affiliate PIV Card holders (whose names and a "G" are printed across a green stripe) and short term staff (under 180 days), Summer Students and foreign nationals (whose names and an O are printed across an orange stripe on the RLA badges).


Q. I have someone coming on board who would like to avoid having to go to the NIH Gateway Center each day to obtain a temporary visitor badge while he's waiting for his PIV card from DPSAC. Can I request an extended visitor badge to give him access to campus while he waits for his badge?

A.
No. ICs should not request an extended visitor badge while waiting for a PIV card or an RLA badge from DPSAC.
    
News Briefs    
 
Background Check Chief: Two Years Before Next-Gen Network Up and Running
Excerpted from a November 10, 2016 NextGov.com article by Joseph Marks

It will be roughly 18 months to two years before the Defense Department completes building out a next-generation computer system to house federal background check data, the director of the new agency that manages the clearance process said Thursday.

That new system will be built to securely store background check information collected by the National Background Investigation Bureau and its contractors along with information collected by other federal agencies and shared by law enforcement, NBIB Director Charles Phalen, Jr. told an interagency group.

Information shared by law enforcement could form the basis for programs to continuously evaluate cleared federal employees for red flags rather than conducting full re-investigations every five to 10 years, he said.
There are several continuous evaluation pilot programs in the military and intelligence community, but the practice isn't yet widespread.

While NBIB waits on its updated system, the agency plans to update its public-facing, and notoriously onerous, Electronic Questionnaires for Investigations Processing, or e-QIP, system, Phalen told members of the National Industrial Security Program Policy Advisory Committee.

The Obama administration launched NBIB in January in the wake of the Office of Personnel Management data breach, which compromised background information of 21.5 million current and former federal employees and their families.

The new agency effectively retains responsibility for conducting most background investigations inside OPM, but transfers responsibility for securing the networks that hold that information to DOD.

OPM cut ties with the background check contractor USIS in 2014. Long backlogs created by the end of the USIS contract and the OPM breach continue to plague the government, Phalen said, though the government is getting back on track.

Average wait times for various background investigations range from 95 days to more than 200 days, according to the most recent quarterly report
 
NED Team to Deploy NED v4.0 for Increased System Security, Improved Platform to Support New Functionality 
This article first appeared in the November 23, 2016 DPSAC News
 
The NED team will deploy an upgraded version (v4.0) of the NED Portal during the weekend of December 9 with a go-live date of December 12.  The upgraded Portal utilizes new business process management software running on new hardware.  The upgrade will increase system security and provide an improved, modernized platform that will better support future system enhancements and new functionality.

How will the upgrade affect NED Portal users?
The NED Portal URL is changing, but users will be automatically redirected to the new URL starting December 12.  The NED team will communicate the new URL on December 12.

After the upgrade, Portal users with the Administrative Officer (AO) or Administrative Technician (AT) role will see a few cosmetic changes, e.g., minor differences in the look and feel of their Portal Inbox.  Also, after initiating a Portal task, an AO or AT won't see the Portal menu until after they complete, save or terminate the task.  Click here to view a complete list of differences between the NED v3.x and NED v4.0 Portal.

Aside from these minor differences, the NED Team expects no impact to NED Portal users. 
  • Current Portal processes for requesting ID badges, NIH network accounts/e-mail, VPN remote access, etc. will remain the same.
  • Portal users will perform the same tasks and see the same screens.
  • Portal users will retain their current system role(s).
  • Portal tasks that are pending at the time of the upgrade will be migrated to the new Portal as part of the upgrade process.
The NED Portal will be unavailable from 7 p.m. December 9, (Eastern Time) through 7 a.m. December 12.

What might NED Portal users need to do?
The NED Team suggests that NED Portal users with the AO or AT role review the NED v4.0 "differences" document referenced above and contact the NED team at [email protected] with any questions.

Why is this change happening?
Upgrading the NED business process management software and system hardware provides the following benefits: 
  • Increases system security by retiring previously unsupported software and hardware.
     
  • Provides support for new features and functionality in the future.
Questions?
Please contact the NED Team at [email protected].
 
NED Training Schedule for FY '17
Description: This course provides an overview of the NED Portal and the NIH business functions it supports from the perspective of a NED Portal user with the AO or AT role. Upon completing the course, students will have a solid working knowledge of the NED Portal and be able to perform the following tasks: Register/Activate, Update, Modify, Transfer, Badge Renewal, and Deactivate.

The course will also familiarize students with other aspects of the NED Portal so they can: set their primary SAC coverage using Preferences, determine the status of a person's ID badge and/or network account request, look up and view information in a person's NED record, and utilize NED reporting capabilities.
Intended Audience: New or relatively inexperienced NED Portal users with the Administrative Officer (AO) or Administrative Technician (AT) role.
Prerequisites: Basic personal computer skills and experience with web-based computer applications.
Reasonable Accommodations/Interpreting Services: For deaf or hard-of-hearing individuals requiring interpreting services, please enter your request online in the Interpreting Services System at least five (5) days before the start of the class.

If you have any questions regarding this service, you may contact the ORS Division of Amenities and Transportation Services (DATS) Interpreting Team at (301-402-8180). Individuals who need other reasonable accommodations to participate in any of the Center for Information Technology (CIT) Training courses should let CIT Training know at least 5 days prior to the class.
How to Register: To register for one of the classes listed below, go to: http://training.cit.nih.gov/class_details.aspx?cId=NIHCIT-GN142.   

   
A biweekly e-newsletter from the Office of Research Services, Division of Personnel Security and Access Control (ORS/DPSAC) to keep you informed as NIH rolls out "Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12" (HSPD-12) establishing a common identification standard to better safeguard NIH and its workforce.