Visit NIH
New Program Improves Visitor Access to Campus
As the world’s premiere research institution, NIH welcomes researchers and patients from across the globe to campus to take part in groundbreaking work. To maintain our global partnerships and foster collaboration, while ensuring the safety of our staff, NIH’s Office of Research Services (ORS) will launch VisitNIH on Jan. 30.
The program will make the logistics of campus access faster and easier, so visitors spend less time at the gate and more time connecting with NIH staff.
VisitNIH, part of the Visitor Access Management Initiative (VAMI), is an online portal that allows researchers, patients, vendors and all other visitors to preregister ahead of their trip to ensure a stress-free experience at NIH’s campus gates and bypass security lines. The process is highly intuitive and allows visitors to securely enter their necessary documentation in advance.
To ensure the safety and integrity of NIH’s vital work, and in adherence with federal visitor protocols, non-U.S. persons will now be required to complete the preregistration process before coming to campus. While U.S. persons (U.S. citizens, green card holders) are not required to preregister, they are encouraged to use VisitNIH to expedite their security processing. NIH staff must extend the invitation to preregister at least 30 days in advance of the campus visit. This lead time enables NIH security teams to properly vet visitors and clarify any discrepancies in their preregistration materials before coming to campus.
How it’ll work
To start the process, the NIH host issues future visitors a formal invitation to VisitNIH via email. Staff can monitor the status of their guests’ registration throughout the process. Once a guest’s registration is approved, both the host and their guests will receive a confirmation email, and guests can expect a seamless campus entry. Advance registration will result in faster entry processing and less confusion for visitors at the gate, especially for on-campus seminars and other large gatherings.
While the preregistration process is designed to simplify visitor access, there may be instances where a visitor arrives without their necessary registration. NIH Police and security staff are trained for such situations and will use common sense discretion to ensure each case is handled with care while upholding safety standards.
VisitNIH protocols will go into place on January 30 as part of a phased rollout. While the initial rollout only impacts Maryland and some D.C.-area NIH campuses, plans are underway to expand VisitNIH preregistration protocols to all NIH campuses ensuring smooth access for patients, researchers and vendors. The VisitNIH system unifies the visitor access process for greater cohesion and security.
“We’ve worked diligently with [HHS’s Office of National Security] ONS to ensure VisitNIH meets our commitment to the legal safety standard and fulfillment of the NIH mission,” said ORS Director Colleen McGowan. “We are the last federal agency in the entire federal government to come into compliance. We’ve taken special care to design a process that works for our nuanced research and security needs.”
To that end, special consideration has been taken to allow easier entry for large groups of visitors for symposiums, special delegations, patients and caregivers.
Rolling it out
The VisitNIH planning team met with key stakeholders and held informational sessions with every institute, office and center.
Special training sessions will be held in the coming weeks to walk staff through their responsibilities as hosts and how to navigate the VisitNIH program. The trainings will also cover how to communicate special or expedited visitor registrations. Dates and registration links will be broadcast to staff soon.
In addition to training NIH staff, outreach to visitors and patients is a critical part of the rollout. In the coming weeks, visitors will see VisitNIH signage and receive informational handouts. Additionally, each NIH institute and center will include information in their welcome packets for patients and guests.
Any change in protocol of this magnitude will have its challenges, especially for a staff of over 30,000. “We ask that staff partner with us in a spirit of curiosity and flexibility,” said McGowan.
Staff and campus visitors also will find information and updates on security.nih.gov. The site includes explanatory videos, answers to frequently asked questions and access to the VisitNIH staff invitation portal. Any questions or feedback on the program should be sent to VAMI@mail.nih.gov.
ORS has built a system that aligns with federal safety mandates and is attuned to the unique and specific needs of the NIH research community. Ultimately, VisitNIH will unify NIH’s campus entry process across all campuses, protecting the research and the collaboration that is a hallmark of our mission.