UTSA human resources office announces new criminal background check process

(Aug. 2, 2011)--As a result of changes to the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and the University of Texas System policy UTS124, UTSA has revised its criminal background check (CBC) process as follows:

• Effective Sept. 1, 2011, departments will be billed for each CBC that is run.
• The CBC cost will be based upon the type of CBC performed and the type of CBC performed will be based upon employment category. The costs are as follows:
• Vendor Search - $27 per name in all U.S. counties
• DPS secure site - $1 per name (Texas only)
• DPS public site - $4 per name (Texas only)

The billing will be processed via an interdepartmental transfer (IDT) on a monthly basis.

As a reminder, CBCs are conducted on all applicants (faculty, staff, students), current employees who bid on and receive a new position (e.g. promotion), new volunteers and occasional workers (an employee that works sporadically, no more than 80 consecutive days, e.g. athletics or activities assistant).

• CBC request forms should be sent to Human Resources (not the UTSA Police Department) by fax to 210-458-4647. Forms must be completed and applicant identity verified with a state or federal photo ID.
• Before rejecting an applicant based on vendor CBC results, a written applicant notification process must occur. This process will be handled by HR once informed that the department has decided not to proceed with hiring the individual.
• In the event that there is a concern about losing the final applicant when a CBC has not been received in a timely fashion, a process has been developed to make an offer to the final applicant contingent upon the CBC results. HR should be contacted to facilitate this process.

Note: Because of additional federal notification requirements (and the cost), HR recommends that you request a CBC only on your final applicant.

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Types of CBCs and employment categories

Below are the types of Criminal Background Checks to be conducted with categories of employee/applicant for each beginning Aug. 8, 2011:

Category A: Vendor search:

• Applicant (finalist) -- external applicants
• All newly assigned (hired) faculty, post docs and staff (including part time and temporary)
• All newly assigned (hired) UTSA-affiliated workers (a worker with access to UTSA resources/paid through private, federal or other state agency (e.g. UT Health Science Center at San Antonio professor)
• Volunteers (overnight travel with staff or students)

Newly assigned = have not had an assignment/appointment within 1 year in HRMS

Category B: DPS secure site:

• Internal (finalist) applicant (current UTSA employee)
• Applicant and newly hired/assigned employees in student titles

Category C: DPS public site:

• Volunteers:
  • With no HRMS assignment
  • Who do not travel overnight with staff or students
• Occasional Workers (works sporadically, no more than 80 consecutive days, e.g. athletic or activities assistant)
• Staff or student rehire/reassignment with a title or department change or break after four months but less than one year (e.g. reclass/transfer/promotion); does not include progressions in a job family
• Faculty reassignment (with a break in service of greater than four months and less than 12 months)

CBC will not be required for the following:

• Reclassification or progression in a job family
• Faculty reassignment within four months regardless of title or department change
• Faculty promotions (e.g. lecturer to senior lecturer or tenure-track to tenured)
• All titles rehired/reassigned/reappointed within four months (same department or same title)
• Temporary agency employees (performed by the agency)
• Individuals under age 18

Department process/responsibility:

• It is very important that the CBC form be filled out accurately, completely and legibly or it will delay processing.
• To ensure that it is legible, HR recommends that you complete Section A electronically and have the applicant complete Section B electronically.
• Have the applicant print and sign the form.
• You must verify the information entered to ensure that it matches the driver’s license, passport or other official form of photo identification.
• Fax the form to the HR department at 210-458-4647.

New CBC Forms have been created and will be required for all positions at UTSA. Destroy any existing copies or forms saved to your desktop. Do not save this form on your desktop, but access the forms via the HR website (new website will be live Aug. 8, 2011) each time you complete the form. This ensures that you will always have the most recent version.

The estimated average turnaround time for CBCs is three days for the vendor search, but this is dependent upon where the applicant has lived and worked. If an applicant has lived or worked in a state or county that has a manual records system (such as Massachusetts, Florida or Georgia) the CBC can take up to two weeks or longer.

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Training classes on the new Criminal Background Check procedure will be offered the week of Aug. 8. Register for a class at the My Training website; select course SD575, CBC Information Session.

Questions? Contact Sharmane at 210-458-4252.