HHS ID Badge Rollout Scorecard

Here are the most recent NIH badging statistics provided by HHS as of September 19, 2011.  

Sponsored: 40,598    Enrolled: 39,696   Issued: 39,205 *

*This figure represents 96.6% of individuals who have been sponsored.

HHS Sending Out "Action Required" E-mails to Renew Digital Certificates

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently began sending "certificate renewal notifications" to HHS ID Badge holders (PIV card holders) starting six (6) weeks prior to the certificate expiration date.  

These notifications alert the cardholder of the impending expiration and provide directions on how to renew certificates. 

While HHS ID Badges (PIV cards) for employees may be valid for up to five years after issuance, HHS policy allows certificates on these cards to be valid for no longer than three (3) years. Because of this difference in validity durations (between the PIV card and the certificates on the card), cardholders must renew (replace) their certificates before they expire.

DPSAC wants to underscore the importance of following the instructions provided in the e-mail to renew certificates before they expire. Should the certificates expire, new certificates will need to be issued. In that case, the individual will need to return to a badge issuance station.  

Currently, most cardholders are unaware of when their certificates will expire because the expiration date printed on the PIV card (HHS ID Badge) applies to the PIV card itself.

Sample Notification   

The following is a sample e-mail notification that the Department will send to NIH holders of the HHS ID Badge (PIV card) whose names are stored in the Department's Identity Management System (IDMS):

Subject: ACTION REQUIRED: The certificates on your HHS ID badge must be renewed

Dear <<Name>>,

You are receiving this e-mail because the PKI digital certificates loaded on your HHS ID Badge are expiring on <<Date>> and must be renewed.

Please note that the expiration date printed on your HHS ID Badge does not always match the expiration date of the PKI digital certificates contained in your badge. For security reasons, these certificates have a shorter lifespan than the HHS ID Badge itself.

To renew your digital certificates, you need to appear in-person at an NIH Badge Issuance location or your local Lifecycle Workstation (if purchased by your IC). To schedule an appointment with the Division of Personnel Security & Access Control on the Bethesda campus, please call 301-451-4766 or 301-402-9755. To see if your IC has a Lifecycle Workstation (LWS) near you, please click here:

http://www.ors.od.nih.gov/ser/dpsac/badge/Pages/renewing.aspx

       Special Note: Individuals located in the Biomedical Research Center in Baltimore, the NCI-Frederick facilities at Fort Detrick in Maryland, the Research Triangle Park facilities in North Carolina or the NIAID facility in Hamilton, Montana should contact their local badging office for a certificate renewal appointment.

Failure to renew your digital certificates by <<Date>> will prevent you from using your HHS ID Badge to login to computers, and you will no longer be able to send and receive encrypted or digitally signed e-mail. 

The HSPD-12 Program Office is offering two NED classes in October

for NED beginners and experienced NED users. Take advantage of this opportunity to quickly master NED in a hands-on computer lab environment.

NED for Beginners
   Date: Monday, October 24, 2011
   Time: 9 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
   Location: 6120 Executive Blvd., Room 4 (EPS)       

NED for Advanced Users
   Date: Monday, October 24, 2011
   Time: 1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
   Location: 6120 Executive Blvd., Room 4 (EPS)

DPSAC News Gets a 'Facelift'

Starting with this issue, DPSAC News is publishing on a more robust platform to offer our subscribers an enhanced reading experience. Changes include the addition of graphics and other visual elements along with dynamic links to help tell the story better.

If you experience any problems viewing this newsletter, please drop a note to Lanny Newman at NewmanL@mail.nih.gov describing the issue.

Send us your suggestions

Also, if there are topics relating to HSPD-12, the HHS ID Badge, Personnel Security and Access Control that you would like to read more about in DPSAC News, please let Lanny know. He looks forward to hearing from you.

News Briefs  

Say goodbye to traditional immigration processing forms

By Aliya Sternstein 

Excerpted from Nextgov.com, August 29, 2011

In preparation for a long-delayed transition to online processing of immigration applications, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has released new rules for describing forms and filing procedures in official policies.

The 43-page federal notice published Monday instructs the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, a unit of DHS, to stop typing on documents the traditional numbers and titles for various benefit claims, such as "Application for Naturalization, form N-400."  

Instead, to accommodate the new computerized Transformation system, USCIS policies and rules will carry more generic phrases, such as "the form designated by USCIS."

The linguistic changes will be necessary once Transformation becomes functional.  

The new rules take effect shortly after Thanksgiving, on Nov. 28. Agency officials have said the first digitized form, one for visitors requesting extensions to stay in the country, should be ready by the end of the year.  Read more...