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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.
January 26, 2022 Issue of DPSAC News
In this issue:
  • NIH Badge Smoothing Initiative and Statistics
  • Check Out Our Resources Overview Page on DPSAC's Website
  • Badge Processing Times 
  • FAQs – Why do I not see any badge history from three years ago about an individual’s badge when I know it was issued three years ago?
  • Helpful Tips: Avoiding Additional Delays in Processing New Hires
  • AOs Who Wish to Obtain Sponsor Authority
  • Provide Your Feedback to the DPSAC Office

NIH Badge Smoothing
Initiative and Statistics
In CY 2023, the NIH will experience a sustained spike in badge renewals. Without proper planning, DPSAC will have insufficient operational capacity to process the 19,000+ renewals in a timely manner, potentially leading to long wait times for PIV and RLA card holders.

DPSAC has several tools at its disposal to mitigate the impact of the expiration spikes. Through a combination of badge smoothing as well as ancillary measures, DPSAC will be positioned to mitigate negative operational impacts.

Badge Smoothing entails ‘force renewing’ badges in advance of their natural expiration, allowing DPSAC to issue badges during periods of lesser volume. In this case, DPSAC is shifting large swaths of CY23 expiring badge holders to CY22 and the remainder of CY21, as shown below in the chart.
Badge Smoothing Mechanics:

  1. DPSAC identifies candidates for forced renewals using factors such as on-site grouping, month of badge expiration, job function, etc. 
  2. Groupings up to approximately 50 individuals at a time are sent to NED on a recurring basis. Associated AOs are notified with instructions via email on the renewal process.
  3. The AOs process the renewal tasks in their queues in NED.
  4. The applicant is notified to schedule their appointment to pick-up their new badge which will have a 5-year lifecycle* from the date the badge is sponsored in step 3.

* Early renewals will reset the 5-year expiration cycle on the badge holder's PIV and contribute to reduced wait times at enrollment and issuance stations. Additionally, badge holders will be able to customize their appointments by selecting a location, date and time that best fits into their busy schedules. 

The overall success of this effort is dependent on AOs completing badge renewal tasks as they appear in their NED inboxes. Individuals are not notified to schedule an appointment with DPSAC until the badge renewal task is complete in NED.***
  
Please note: The act of sponsoring a PIV-to-PIV renewal will not impact an existing unexpired badge. If for any reason a new badge type is entered into NED, (PIV to RLA or RLA to PIV), the existing badge will lose all physical and logical access upon sponsorship. This effort does not include RLA badges. 

DPSAC Badge Smoothing Statistics:

From now on, we will be sharing the most recent NIH badge smoothing statistics in our newsletters. Here are the statistics as of January 24, 2021.  

Number of individuals submitted to NED to start the process (Initiated): 400
Number of individuals sponsored in NED (Sponsored): 160
Number of individuals issued a new badge (Issued): 62
Check Out Our Resources Overview Page on DPSAC's Website
We at DPSAC are excited to share about our new Resources overview page that lists out a couple of resources designed to help answer questions you may have about various procedures required at the NIH, along with resources to help you navigate through these processes. Please browse through these resources to gain a better understanding of your responsibilities and what to expect from our office. 

One of our newest resource webpages is regarding the Visit Authorization Request (VAR). Please take a look at this webpage whenever you have any questions regarding when a VAR letter is required and the process of incoming and outgoing VAR requests. We also provide guidelines and examples of these requests to help reduce confusion between the two.

If you have any questions about the resources provided, please contact orspersonnelsecurity@mail.nih.gov.
Badge Processing Times
For the OCT/NOV/DEC time frame, the average processing time for issuing an ID badge is 23.7 calendar days.
Q: Why do I not see any badge history from three years ago about an individual’s badge when I know it was issued three years ago?

A: To help ensure the NED system runs smoothly, NED does not display any badge history older than two years. The badge history page in NED will now display a note reminding individuals that the data only shows the most recent two years of information.
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: salaha@ors.od.nih.gov.

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: Judie.Kuo@nih.gov. Your input is greatly appreciated.
Want to share some feedback?

We at DPSAC would love to hear from you regarding any feedback you may have for our office and how we can continue to improve. As part of your feedback, please answer the following survey questions here. This should not take more than two (2) minutes. Thank you for taking the time to provide such feedback, as your thoughts are very valuable to us. 


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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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