The Office of Research Security assists with all aspects of obtaining, maintaining, and terminatingpersonnel security clearances. All correspondence concerning Personnel Security Clearances or anyassociated training/communications will be conducted using official UAH email. Contact us regardingany questions not answered below. Obtaining Your Personnel Security Clearance If you will be working on a contract issued by a branch of the U.S. government, and it is determined that access to classified information is essential in the performance of your work on that contract, you may be required to obtain a personnel security clearance. If you have questions about Personnel Security Clearances or questions concerning the process of obtaining Personnel Security Clearance please see Frequently Asked Questions Initial Security Clearance Process If you have never held a personnel security clearance before, you must follow the steps listed below. Your supervisor must submit a Justification for Personnel Security Clearance. ORS will process the request and reach out to you directly to schedule a Start-Up meeting. The Start-Up meeting will detail how to proceed through the clearance process. This will include an overview of the Standard Form 86 (SF86) and how to use the Electronic Application (eApp). You will be required to complete the following paperwork and document submission: Personal Security Clearance Data Sheet Signed and dated 32CFR UAH Offer of Employment Letter Proof of U.S. Citizenship and Verification: Original Birth Certificate, Certified Copy of a Birth Certificate, a current U.S. Passport, or Naturalization documents Visual verification of authenticity will be conducted in-person. Accommodations are available for remote workers. Schedule Fingerprinting with ORS. Appointments will be in-office. Accommodations are available for remote workers. You will complete the Standard Form 86 (SF86) in eApp. When ORS submits your completed SF86, it will be released to an investigating officer. They will proceed with an investigation. When your clearance is granted, ORS will reach out to you to set up an initial briefing. You will also complete the following: Standard Form 312 (SF312) Signing will be conducted in-person. Accommodations are available for remote workers. Security Clearance Transfer Process If you are transferring your clearance to UAH, follow the steps listed below. Your supervisor must submit a Justification for Personnel Security Clearance. ORS will process the request and reach out to you directly. You will be required to complete the following paperwork and document submission: Personal Security Clearance Data Sheet Signed and dated 32CFR UAH Offer of Employment Letter ORS will reach out to you to set up an initial briefing. You will also complete the following: Signing will be conducted in-person. Accommodations are available for remote workers. Visual verification of authenticity will be conducted in-person. Accommodations are available for remote workers. Standard Form 312 (SF312) Verification of Proof of U.S. Citizenship: Original Birth Certificate, Certified Copy of a Birth Certificate, a current U.S. Passport, or Naturalization documents Electronic Application (eApp) The Electronic Application (eApp) is a secure, web-based system used by the US Federal government to initiate background investigations; this replaced the Electronic Questionnaire for Investigations Processing (e-QIP) system. Additional information on the eApp system is available on the DCSA Website. Initial Briefing When your clearance is granted, we will contact you to set up an appointment for your initial security briefing. This briefing is required before any access to classified material may be granted. If you have been granted an interim clearance, you will be informed of the restrictions regarding this interim clearance at the time of your briefing appointment. When your final clearance is later granted, you will be notified. If the contract under which you are working requires access to special access information such as NATO or CNWDI and your final clearance has been granted, you will be provided the appropriate briefings for access to this additional information during your briefing appointment. The Standard Form 312 Upon completion of the briefing, you will execute the Classified Information Non-Disclosure Agreement, Standard Form 312 (SF 312). This will be witnessed by an ORS Representative. A copy of this SF 312 will be retained in our office, and the original will be sent to the Cognizant Security Agency (CSA) for retention. This form is retained for fifty (50) years beyond the date of your signature. This should indicate to you the life-long commitment you will be making to protect the classified information to which you have access. Maintaining Your Personnel Security Clearance Once you are briefed as a cleared employee, you have certain responsibilities. These are spelled out for you in detail in the Standard Practices and Procedures Manual (SPP), a copy of which was provided to you at your initial security briefing. These responsibilities include, but are not limited to, certain Reporting Requirements, the annual refresher briefing, various annual trainings, and periodic reinvestigations. Annual Refresher Briefing The UAH Office of Research Security is required to provide annual refresher training to all cleared employees. As a cleared employee, you complete this annual training as one way in which you demonstrate a continuing need for the clearance. This requirement is mandatory and must be completed once every calendar year. Required Annual Trainings Insider Threat, Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI), and CITI Export Control training must be completed once every 365 days to maintain your clearance. The CITI Export Control training certificate will be automatically sent to ORS, but you must email a copy of both your Insider Threat and CUI completion certificates to ORS. Based on your position or any special accesses you possess, additional training may be required on a case-by-case basis. Periodic Reinvestigations As a cleared employee of UAH, you will be asked to complete an updated SF86 via eApp approximately once every five years. This is a routine periodic reinvestigation. We will contact you when it is time for your reinvestigation. A copy of your last SF 86 may be of help to you in completing your updated paperwork; we recommend keeping one for your own records. Terminating Employment at UAH and/or Your Personnel Security Clearance If you terminate employment with UAH or if the classified contract under which your clearance was obtained ends and the likelihood of your obtaining another classified contract in the near future is uncertain, your security clearance must be terminated. Contact us to make an appointment for a debriefing. If you are assigned to another contract or obtain different employment for which a clearance is required, your clearance can be reinstated quickly.
