Final Offers

All employment offers to final candidates for all searches are contingent upon the successful completion of the University’s national and state background check.  Volunteers and others in designated roles must have a successful background check completion.  Please see the University of Mary Washington’s Background Check Policy and Procedures.

UMW’s background check applies to the final candidate identified for volunteer, wage, classified, administrative/professional and faculty teaching positions, including adjunct and professional development positions.

This also applies to current employees who move into positions designated as sensitive as defined in the University’s background check policy, or whose current job duties are expanded to include those of a sensitive nature.

Please follow the steps outlined below to bring this process to completion quickly and efficiently.

1.  Sample Verbal Conditional Offer

Once the interviews have been completed and you have

  • Identified the final candidate,
  • Documented reference checks with the three most recent employers,
  • Submitted all search documentation to the Recruitment Office, and
  • Received approval of the hire, start date, and salary from the Recruitment Office,

you (the Hiring Manager) may make a conditional offer to the selected candidate.  Hiring Managers must clearly state that the offer is conditional.

“I am pleased to extend a conditional offer of employment as (position) in the Department of ___ at the salary or hourly rate of _____. Your projected start date will be _____________.

This offer will become final upon the timely and successful completion of the required background checks.

The required background check includes two reviews, one at the national level and one at the state level (Virginia).  For the national review you will receive an email from Truescreen, the investigating agency, with instructions to initiate your report. Follow the instructions carefully. The authorization will require only a few minutes of your time.  If you don’t receive an email from Truescreen, please check your SPAM or JUNK folder.  You must complete this authorization within 48 hours of receipt of the email from Truescreen.

For the state level (Virginia) review you will receive an email from jobs@umw.edu.  This email provides instructions to initiate your report.

Failure to do so may result in the withdrawal of this offer.

Please contact the Recruitment Office at (540) 654-1238 if you have any questions or concerns.”

You should also:

  1. Confirm with the candidate his or her email address and name spelling as they appear on the application.
  2. Confirm with the Recruitment Office that the conditional offer has been accepted and that the information as it appears on the application is correct.

2.  Submit the UMW Background Check Form

Once you receive acceptance of the conditional offer, submit the UMW Background Check Request Form.


3.  HR Initiates the Background Check

Once the Recruitment Office receives:

  • The Hiring Manager’s confirmation of the conditional offer and acceptance,
  • All submitted search documentation from the Hiring Manager,
  • The UMW Background Check Request Form,

the Recruitment Office will initiate the background search process with TrueScreen, the investigating agency and the State Police.

TrueScreen will contact the candidate directly by email with login instructions to authorize the background check. Once authorized by the candidate, the investigation starts immediately and may take up to 10 days to complete. This time varies depending on how quickly the candidate responds to the check, and the residential and employment history of the candidate.

The applicant will receive an email with instructions for completing the State Police Criminal History Record Name Search Request from jobs@umw.edu.  The applicant must bring the completed form to the Human Resources Office or mail in a notarized form.

Hiring Managers will be contacted when both background checks are complete.  If additional follow-up is required, the Recruitment Office will reach out to the appropriate Cabinet member.

 

Additionally, all volunteers and current employees who are required to complete background checks must visit the Human Resources Office to complete the state background check authorization in the presence of a notary prior to assuming volunteer roles and covered responsibilities.


4.  State Police Background Check

To properly complete the State Police check for the hiring process, we ask the following:

  • The background check will be completed on the selected finalist only, as you will indicate in your online background check request after your conditional offer of employment has been accepted.

As a reminder, all conviction information received from a background check is reviewed by HR and shared by our office with the appropriate Cabinet member, as needed, to finalize a hiring action.

 

Adverse Results

Please see the policy and procedures for the University’s response if conviction information is reported through the background check. If conviction history is reported in the background check, Human Resources will handle all communications with the candidate.