The university is committed to providing a safe and secure work environment. To that end, the university conducts background screening, including screening for criminal convictions, on all applicants after a conditional offer of employment, and as a condition of employment.
Any department that wishes to conduct background screenings during employment must obtain approval from the Senior Vice President for Human Resources, the Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, or their designee(s).
Specific screening requirements
All staff and faculty: Criminal background screening is conducted following a conditional offer of employment and as a condition of employment with individuals subject to additional screening in accordance with university guidelines.
Staff providing clinical services: In addition to the screening requirement noted above for all staff, staff employees providing clinical services are subject to screening at least annually, and more often at the university’s discretion, against the federal Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) List of Excluded Individuals/Entities and federal General Service Administration’s (GSA) Excluded Parties List System. Individuals screened include, but are not limited to, hospital personnel including: hospital employees, clinical staff employees, volunteers, travelers, USC security employees, USC contracted pharmacists, and USC contracted therapists. These screenings relate to exclusions from the Medicare, Medi-Cal and other federal health care programs.
Staff and faculty with certain financial responsibilities as part of their role: In addition to the screening requirements noted above for all staff and faculty, employees who hold positions with certain financial responsibilities must complete a credit check screening following a conditional offer of employment, and may be subject to additional screening during employment.
Clinical faculty at the Keck School of Medicine (i.e., any faculty member from any clinical discipline within KSOM who treats patients as part of his or her profile of activities): Criminal background screening is conducted following a conditional offer of employment and as a condition of employment, with individuals subject to additional screening in accordance with university guidelines. Clinical faculty who apply for privileges and credentials through the USC Care Office of Integrated Credentialing are also screened against the federal Office of Inspector General (OIG) List of Excluded Individuals/Entities and federal General Service Administration (GSA) Excluded Parties List System, prior to initial credentialing, monthly, and at reappointment. These screenings relate to exclusions from the Medicare, Medi-Cal and other federal health care programs. Screenings also are performed at initial credentialing and re-credentialing (every two years) with Versys (historical verification of OIG/GSA sanctions), Federation of State Medical Boards, PreCheck (malpractice/insurance) and the American Medical Association.
Clinical faculty at the Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry (i.e., faculty who apply for privileges and credentials through the HOSOD Credentialing Service): Criminal background screening is conducted following a conditional offer of employment as a condition of employment, with individuals subject to additional screening in accordance with university guidelines. Clinical faculty who apply for privileges and credentials through the HOSOD Credentialing Service are also screened against the federal Office of Inspector General (OIG) List of Excluded Individuals/Entities before initial credentialing and at reappointment, and more often at the university’s discretion. These screenings relate to exclusions from the Medicare, Medi-Cal and other federal health care programs.
All executive level faculty and staff (i.e., any employee identified as an officer, senior executive, executive, dean, KSOM department chair or head coach): In addition to any applicable background screening listed above, individuals with conditional offers for executive level faculty and staff positions may be subject to additional screening before and during their employment, including but not limited to individuals who are promoted to a dean position.
All postdoctoral scholar-research associates, postdoctoral scholar-teaching fellows, postdoctoral scholar-visiting fellows and postdoctoral scholar-fellowship trainees: Criminal background screening is conducted following a conditional offer of employment and as a condition of employment, with individuals subject to additional screening in accordance with university guidelines.
Responsible office
Human Resources Administration
uschr@usc.edu
(213) 821-8100
Office of the Provost
uscprovost@usc.edu
(213) 740-2101
Questions about individual policies should be directed to the “responsible office” listed at the end of each policy. General questions may be emailed to scpolicy@usc.edu.