Restricted Party Screening - Office of Research Integrity and Assurance

Restricted party screening (RPS) is a key aspect of Mason’s fundamental due diligence. The U.S. government maintains various lists, which are publicly available, such as the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list, the Entity List, Unverified List, and many others, which are updated on a regular basis.

U.S. persons may be restricted in their interactions with individuals or entities on these lists including providing payments or services, exporting, hand-carrying or transferring items, exchanging or transmitting export-controlled technology or information. The restrictions will vary depending on the specific list. As a U.S. university, Mason is required to ensure that it is not interacting with any prohibited parties on those lists. Please review the information below and contact [email protected] if you need additional assistance.

How is screening conducted?

Mason is a part of a statewide license for a restricted party screening tool called Visual Compliance. Mason staff across the university (see table below) are trained in how to use Visual Compliance to screen individuals or entities against all the U.S. government lists plus other international restricted party lists. Visual Compliance will also rescreen on a daily basis to alert both [email protected] and the screener if there is a match to a previously screened individual or entity..

When is screening conducted?

Screen before any interactions or activities (ex. before purchases, before international collaborations or research, before international visits or travel, before enrollment or hiring, before purchasing, before an international shipment)

Who should be screened?

The individual’s name and affiliated institution or company must be screened for international parties and foreign contacts including:

New, unfamiliar or international vendors
Potential collaborators/research partners
International guests/guest speakers
Visiting foreign delegations
If attending an international conference, event or meeting:
- Name of conference or meeting
- Name and organization of host(s) and sponsor(s)
- Names and organizations of any participants you plan to meet with outside of the event agenda/program
Visiting Scholars (J-1 applicants)
Affiliates

See our FAQs below for more information.

Note: All university personnel, when completing a Chrome River preapproval request for international travel, will be asked to certify that any foreign contacts (institutions or individuals) for planned meetings, research or collaboration have been screened in Visual Compliance.

Who can conduct screening for me?

Please see the table below for Visual Compliance Users/Screeners you can contact to assist you. If you are unable to find someone who can assist you, please reach out to [email protected].

College	Office/Department	First Name	Email
CARTER		Margarita Tadevosyan	[email protected]
CCB		Beth Cecka	[email protected]
CCB		Gabby Griffis	[email protected]
CCB		Rosemary Brown	[email protected]
CCB		Margaret Kebe	[email protected]
CCB		Yashika Wright	[email protected]
CCB		Sagarika Aich	[email protected]
CEC	C5I	Justin Thorpe	[email protected]
CEC	Department of Information Sciences & Technology	Sarah Alharshan	[email protected]
CEC		Elizabeth Dean	[email protected]
CEC	Bioengineering	Amal Nadel	[email protected]
CEC	Department of Computer Science	Michele Pieper	[email protected]
CEC		Elizabeth Barnfield	[email protected]
CHSS	Center for Climate Change Communication	Caitlin Kelleghan	[email protected]
CHSS	Department of Communication	Maria Carabelli	[email protected]
CHSS	Sociology and Anthropology	Katherine Foarde	[email protected]
CHSS		P. Daniel Chen	[email protected]
CHSS	School of Integrative Studies	Stephanie Zeher	[email protected]
CHSS		Zabiullah Nasiri	[email protected]
CHSS	African and African American Studies	Jutonya Myers	[email protected]
CHSS	English Department	Barbara Gomperts	[email protected]
CHSS	Department of Sociology and Anthropology	Farhana Islam	[email protected]
CHHS	Department of Economics	Taylor Kenestrick	[email protected]
CHSS	History and Art History	Alison Langford	[email protected]
CHSS	History and Art History	Susan Woods	[email protected]
CHSS	History and Art History	Hyonson Yi	[email protected]
CHSS	Center for Social Science Research	Katharine Rupp	[email protected]
CHSS	Cultural Studies	Sean Dixon	[email protected]
CHSS	Psychology	Jada Khochareun	[email protected]
COS	Center for Applied Proteomics & Molecular Medicine	Natasha Boddie	[email protected]
COS		Maria D’Souza	[email protected]
COS	Center for Applied Proteomics & Molecular Medicine	Virginia Espina	[email protected]
COS	CIDR-Biomedical Research Lab under IBI	Megan Grant	[email protected]
COS		Hillary Hamm	[email protected]
COS	Mathematical Sciences	Tammie Howell	[email protected]
COS	ESP	Natalie Lapidot-Croitoru	[email protected]
COS	Center for Collision Safety and Analysis	Cheriden Tellis	[email protected]
COS	Biology	Joanne Zimmerman (Anderson)	[email protected]
COS	ESP	Ryan Gunning	[email protected]
COS		Vivian Carrera	[email protected]
CVPA		Crystal Broomall	[email protected]
SCHAR		Christopher Anclien	[email protected]

Screening Tips and Common Errors

Screening Tips

Visual Compliance Screening Tips

Include information only in the 'Name' (individuals and organization), 'Country' and 'Comment' fields. Screen both the names of individuals and their associated organizations separately (If screened together, we may miss a match)
Do not screen under 'Company' field. Screen everything – include organizations like companies and universities – in the 'Name' field
Screen the entire legal name of a company, including “University”, “Inc.” and “Corp.”
Under 'Country' field use country of residence or organizations country from their address.
In the 'Comment' field include identifying information ex. name of requestor (G# if available) and purpose. This is necessary for auditing purposes and for rescreening
Capitalization does not impact search results
Do not add spaces between the letters of an acronym
Do not use accented letters or special characters
Do not copy/paste from a pdf document
For hyphenated names, include both last names with the hyphen
If you make a mistake or have a typo, email [email protected] so we can delete the screening

Common Screening Errors

Visual Compliance Common Screening Errors

Using the 'Company' field to screen an organization or company
When screening an individual under 'Name', mistakenly including their affiliated institution under 'Company' in the same screening
Not including the full name of the individual or organization/institution
Not adding a 'Comment' with sufficient identifying information to identify the purpose of the screening at a later date

Frequently Asked Questions

General FAQs

Is this a background check?

No, this is not a background check, however it is a requirement for due diligence. Screening in Visual Compliance is simply entering publicly available information (such as a person or entity’s name and country), to screen them against publicly maintained U.S. government lists. It is the equivalent of a Google search, but with hundreds of saved hours, and with all the public lists consolidated into one place. Therefore, screeners do not need to disclose to the individual that they will be screening them.

Can I collaborate with a colleague if they or their institution is on a U.S. Government restricted party list?

Contact us at [email protected] if you screen an individual or institution, and they appear on one of these restricted party lists. We will review the listing against the restrictions placed on the individual or their institution and the type of collaboration. Some listings may require a license or authorization from the U.S. Government before proceeding.

Do I need to verify citizenship for any “foreign contacts”?

No. Visual Compliance screening is not related to the citizenship or the nationality of any individual screened. The basic information needed to screen in Visual Compliance is a full name, associated institution or company and country where they are located.

What is a “foreign contact” for screening purposes?

“Foreign contact” refers to individuals or institutions who you expect to interact or collaborate with in your role at Mason who are located outside of the U.S. This includes international collaborators, guest speakers, visiting delegations, or visiting scholars. If you are attending an international conference or meeting; this includes the hosts and any participants, you plan to meet with outside the program agenda. A “foreign contact” does not include every single conference or meeting attendee, chance/spontaneous encounters you may have, hotel employees, etc.

What about new contacts I make while abroad?

If you expect that a new foreign contact may result in planned research or future research collaborations, or continued meetings related to your role at Mason, we recommend conducting screening. You can reach out to your college or office screeners (see table above) or to [email protected].

Screener FAQs

What if I receive a match?

If you receive a match or are unsure if it is a match, please either escalate the results through Visual Compliance or email us directly at [email protected], and we will evaluate and determine the next steps.

Help! How can I convey messaging around Visual Compliance needs to our faculty/staff?

Please direct them to this page and to [email protected] for any further questions.

What are my responsibilities as a screener?

Screening roles vary by college and office, but the responsibility of the screener is to screen the information provided (name and organization) or confirm that another party has already screened. Screeners may also reach out to [email protected] if unsure whether they should conduct screening.

Are screeners responsible for communicating to the individual being screened if they show up on the list?

If there is a match, screeners are not responsible for communicating the restriction directly with the individual. If you get a potential match that you would like us to review, please contact [email protected].

Contact Us

If you have any questions about screening or need screening support, contact [email protected].

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