Employment Clearances

Pre-Employment Background Screening

Villanova University is committed to protecting the security and safety of students, faculty, staff, and visitors, and safeguarding the assets and resources of the University. In support of this commitment, pre-employment background checks have been an important part of the employment selection process and are required prior to hiring all faculty, staff, and student employees regardless of the duration of employment. These pre-employment background checks have included criminal history screening, verification of social security number, prior work verification, verification of academic credentials, credit history, motor vehicle history, drug testing, and other testing deemed relevant based on the nature and duties of the position(s) sought (collectively the “Pre-employment Background Checks”). These pre-employment background checks are conducted by a qualified vendor selected and approved by the University.

For more information, please review the University's Background Screening Policy.

PA Act 153 Criminal Background Checks

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, with the objective to protect minors, enacted Act 153 of the Pennsylvania Child Protective Services Law (CPSL) in 2014. In compliance with this Act, Villanova University requires that employees and volunteers who may have "direct contact" (defined as "care, supervision, guidance, or control of minors") or "routine interaction (defined as "regular and repeated in-person or virtual contact that is integral to a person's employment") with minors undergo three criminal background checks, in addition to the Pre-employment Background Check. In addition, contractors, subcontractors, and facility users, and/or individuals having “direct contact” with minors will be required to complete background checks prior to their presence on campus for the project, program, or event in which they are involved.

Under PA Act 153, the three required background checks are:

• Report of criminal history from the PA State Police;
• Child Abuse Clearance from the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services; and 
• Fingerprint-based Federal criminal history submitted to the FBI. 

Renewal of PA Act 153 Clearances

Act 153 Background Checks are vaild for sixty (60) months from the date of issuance. As a condition of continued employment, any faculty and staff who are required to have clearances under this policy must be recertified. The Office of Human Resources will partner with department vice presidents and academic deans annually to confirm the list of those individuals needing to be recertified. It is the responsibility of supervisors, managers, directors, academic deans, and chairpersons (collectively, "supervisors") to provide updated information to Human Resources, upon request, regarding which of the employees under their supervision have direct contact with minors. In addition, supervisors are required to inform Human Resources, in writing, when any employee under their supervision is assigned new duties that would require the employee to have in place, or renew, their Act 153 clearances. 

Please use our PA Act 153 Renewal Form to begin the process of updating your clearances.