Screening Process for Research Positions

Background

Before offering a Research Position to certain individuals, Florida Statute 1010.35 requires most Florida state-sponsored institutions, including the University of Central Florida, to review and screen certain information. These requirements apply to:

All foreign nationals, defined as Non-U.S. Citizen/Non-U.S. Permanent Residents.
U.S. Citizens or Permanent Residents:
1. Who have had one year or more of higher education, employment, or training in China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia, Syria, or Venezuela; or
2. Who have an affiliation (i.e., board membership, company ownership, honorary title, etc.) with an institution or program in China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia, Syria, or Venezuela.

These requirements do not apply to U.S. Citizens or U.S. Permanent residents if the employment or training was/is through an agency of the U.S. Government. The information outlined on this website is meant to assist the UCF community in meeting these requirements.

Impacted Positions

Positions impacted by these requirements include:

Faculty (including Adjunct Faculty engaged in Research),
Graduate Research Assistants and Graduate Research Associates,
Individuals compensated by a research grant or contract funds,
Individuals hired through the Inclusive Excellence or partner hire recruitment programs to engage in Research,
Interns engaged in Research,
OPS positions engaged in Research,
Paid Visiting Researchers, including Visiting Assistant Professors and Visiting Research Associates,
Postdoctoral Scholars,
Positions where the Individual is engaged in Research.

To better assist the UCF community in identifying the impacted positions, UCF has compiled a list of job codes. This list can be accessed here. Screening is only required before offering an individual employment in a research position. If after reviewing the information on this website, including the training and resources referenced below, you are still unsure whether a position is a research position, please contact the Office of Institution Collaboration and Export Control at OICEC@ucf.edu.

Required Documentation

Prior to an offer of employment, the following documents must be provided as part of the screening process:

CV/Resume: This document must include the following information:

(1) Every institution of higher education attended, including contact information for the institution and dates of attendance;

(2) All previous employment since the individual’s 18th birthday (no matter how short or how pertinent to the applied for position), including contact information for the employer(s) and dates of employment;

(3) A list of all published material for which the individual:

received credit as an author,
received credit as a researcher,
or contributed significant research, writing, or editorial support;

(4) A list of the individual’s current and pending research funding from any source, including:

funder,
amount,
role on the project, and
a brief description of the research; and

(5) A full disclosure of non-university professional activities (i.e., board memberships, consulting, etc.), including any affiliation with an institution or program in China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, Venezuela, or Syria.

Note: Individuals can incorporate this information into the CV/resume used to apply for the position, or the information can be appended to a more traditional CV/resume. We highly encourage individuals to utilize the UCF International CV/resume template.

Passport (Foreign Nationals Only): If an individual has a passport, the individual is also required to provide a copy of the biographical pages(s) of the passport. If the individual does not have a passport, this will not hold up the hiring process. However, the individual will be required to provide a copy of their passport as part of the visa review process.

Non-Immigrant Visa Application (Foreign Nationals Only): If an individual has a copy of their submitted Non-Immigrant Visa Application, they are also required to provide a copy of the Application. The Application can be retrieved before submitting the application to the Consular Electronic Application Center at: https://ceac.state.gov/genniv/. If the individual does not have a copy of the Application this will not hold up the hiring process. However, if UCF is assisting the individual with obtaining a visa, the individual will be required to provide a copy of the Application as part of that process.

Review Process

As part of the screening process, the Office of Institutional Equity (OIE) will conduct a review to determine whether there has been any adverse impact on protected class applicants. If OIE determines there are concerns, OIE will contact the unit directly.

OICEC will review all the required information from a foreign influence perspective. An individual may be rejected for hire if the individual:

Fails to provide the required information,
Engages in activities that violate U.S. Federal/state laws or UCF policies, and/or
Fails to disclose a substantial educational activity; employment activity; research-related activity; publication; or presentation.

Once the review is complete, the hiring unit will be notified through the appropriate system (see What is the UCF Hiring Unit Required to Do?).

What is the UCF Hiring Unit Required to Do?

Doctoral Students

Doctoral Students admitted to UCF after Summer 2022: Due to the impact on the student, beginning with Fall 2022 applicants, UCF screens Doctoral Students at the time the student accepts their admission offer. Unless otherwise informed in writing by OICEC and/or Graduate Studies, the hiring unit is not required to take any additional steps.

Doctoral Students admitted to UCF prior to Fall 2022: If the Doctoral Student has been a UCF GRA previously, screening is not required to rehire the student as a GRA. If the Doctoral Student has not been a UCF GRA previously, screening is required for applicants that require screening (see above). If screening is required, the hiring unit must follow the applicable Workday hiring process and the applicant must be approved through the screening process prior to an offer of employment in a research position. To determine whether a student has been a GRA previously, please contact Graduate Studies at gradadmissions@ucf.edu.

All other Research Positions

Applicants beginning the hiring process (i.e., the position was posted, application submitted, etc.) prior to the launch of Workday: If a hiring unit would like to make an offer of employment to an applicant that requires screening and the applicant began the hiring process prior to the launch of Workday (July 1, 2022), the hiring unit should use the Dynamic Form: Florida Statute 1010.35 Screening Form (link below) to complete the screening process. The Dynamic Form will eventually be retired as UCF continues to migrate to Workday.

Applicants beginning the hiring process after the launch of Workday: If a hiring unit would like to make an offer of employment to an applicant that requires screening, the hiring unit must complete the screening process in Workday. The screening process can be completed in Workday Recruitment or Workday Direct Hire. See the resources section for a link to the online training and standard operating procedures for the screening process in Workday.

Note: Applicants that require screening must be approved through the screening process before an offer of employment can be made.

FAQs

Are there certain positions that are not impacted?

Yes, screening is not required for:

Non-research related positions
Volunteers or unpaid positions
Administrative positions that support the research effort (i.e., proposal teams, contract teams, accountants, compliance teams, HR, etc.)
Students completing lab work or research as part of a class

Are there any exceptions for adjunct instructors/lecturers?

Yes. For adjunct instructors and lecturers, screening is not required as long as all of the following conditions are met:

Language is added to the adjunct contract signed by each adjunct stating, “You hereby acknowledge and agree that you will not participate in any research, whether funded or unfunded, as part of this position.”
The individual will not be engaged in research. This includes affiliating with UCF on research publications.
The unit is required to exercise due diligence to make sure that the individual being hired as an adjunct instructor/lecturer is not also being hired in additional positions at UCF. If the individual is being hired in multiple positions at UCF (Ex: postdoc and adjunct lecturer), and one of those positions is a research position, prior to making an offer the individual will need to be screened or the unit will need to obtain in writing a case-by-case exception from the Office of International Collaboration and Export Control.

Can I make a 'soft offer' or verbal offer of employment to an applicant that is going through the screening process?

No. The law prohibits any type of offer until the applicant has been approved through the screening process. Hiring units can discuss general information related to the position with the applicant and can let the applicant know that the hiring unit is highly interested in them as an applicant.

If an individual has been screened previously, do they need to be screened again?

It depends on the position and the circumstances surrounding the applicant.

Adjuncts: If the applicant has been screened and the break in service is not more than two semesters in a row, rescreening is not required.
Students (All categories): If the applicant has been screened and has continuously been enrolled as a student at UCF, rescreening is not required. For example, if the student was employed as an hourly undergraduate researcher during their first year and then not employed again until year three or four if that student was continuously enrolled as a student at UCF, rescreening is not required.
Other applicants: Except for the categories outlined above, if an applicant is screened, and then has a break in service or was never hired, rescreening is required.

To the extent possible, UCF will work together to not rescreen activities conducted by applicants that have already been screened.

How do I know whether someone has been approved through the screening process and the date of the approval?

Applicants hired through Workday: For both the direct-hire process and the recruitment process, the hiring unit will receive an email notifying them that the screening process is complete and the outcome. For applicants hired through the recruitment process, a tag will also appear on the applicant’s recruitment record indicating the outcome of the screening process. OICEC and other units engaged in the screening process also have access to a report in Workday that identifies all applicants that have gone through the screening process in Workday and the outcome of the screening process.
Applicants hired prior to the launch of Workday: For applicants that were screened using the Dynamic Form, hiring units should have received an email notifying them that the screening process was complete and the outcome of the screening process. OICEC and other units engaged in the screening process also have access to a report that identifies all applicants that were screened using the Dynamic Form and the outcome of the screening process.
Doctoral students screened in Slate (beginning with Fall 2022): The applicant’s record in Slate will identify whether the applicant has gone through the foreign influence screening process in Slate. In addition, OICEC and other units engaged in the screening process have access to a report in Slate that identifies all applicants that have gone through the screening process in Slate and the outcome of the screening process.

Resources and Questions

Resources

Online Training: UCF has developed online training to assist hiring units with the screening process. To access this training please click here: https://webcourses.ucf.edu/courses/1395245. You will need to log in with your UCF credentials to access this training. If a unit still needs to utilize the Dynamic Form and would like a copy of the previous training outlining the Dynamic Form process, please contact OICEC at OICEC@ucf.edu.

Standard Operating Procedures for hiring units: Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for the screening process in Workday Recruitment and Workday Direct Hire have been developed to assist hiring units. These SOPs can be accessed by clicking the link to the above online training and accessing the “Resource” section of the training.

Template email/handout: UCF has developed a template email and handout that hiring units can use to determine whether an individual requires screening and if screening is required, which can be used to obtain the required information from the individual:

Template cv/resume: UCF has also developed an optional template cv/resume that can be used by applicants. This template can help expedite the review process and can be accessed here: UCF-OICEC-CV-Resume-Template(Updated-February-2024).

For additional information related to obtaining the background check report, please visit here: https://hr.ucf.edu/liaisons-supervisors/talent-acquisition/.

For a copy of the Dynamic Form, please click here.

For additional information related to the Office of Institutional Equity’s requirements outlined on the Dynamic Form, please click here.

Questions

For questions regarding this Foreign Influence Screening Process, please contact the Office of International Collaboration and Export Control at OICEC@ucf.edu.

For technical questions related to the Dynamic Form, please contact cgsdynamicforms@ucf.edu.

For questions related to Graduate Studies, please contact gradadmissions@ucf.edu.

For human resource questions, please contact hrbackgrounds@ucf.edu.

For questions related to institutional equity, please click here, or contact the Institutional Equity at oie@ucf.edu.