By MEAGAN BALINK Colorado Daily Campus Editor
The murders of two University of North Carolina-Wilmington students, allegedly
by two other students with criminal records, have universities all over
the nation debating campus safety and the possibility of instituting criminal
background checks for their students.
Former UNCW student John Peck, who killed himself after allegedly shooting
ex-girlfriend Christen Naujoks to death on June 4, opted not to check
the little box on his college application that asked if he had ever been
convicted of anything more serious than a traffic offense, according to
university officials. Neither did Curtis Dixon, accused of raping and
murdering Jessica Faulkner in her dorm just one month earlier.
Peck's record included a 2001 felony assault on a female, among other
convictions. Dixon had a misdemeanor larceny charge from 2000 on his record,
according to the Associated Press.
UNCW has created a task force to review safety on all its campuses and
according to Chancellor Rosemary DePaolo, UNC's president, is reviewing
how to more accurately obtain information on admissions applications,
including the possibility of background checks.
UNC's action may serve as an example for other institutions, or vice versa.
Some universities have already instituted limited background checks on
faculty, staff and even students.
Baylor University is planning on conducting criminal background checks
on all student athletes who transfer to its campus, and will require character
references on new athletes, according to a July story in the Houston Chronicle.
A former basketball player at the school was accused in the shooting death
of a teammate last year.
Pennsylvania State University instituted system-wide background checks
for all faculty after learning this summer that professor Paul Krueger,
an assistant education professor since 1999, was convicted as a teenager
in 1965 of a triple homicide.
University of California campuses vary, but all require criminal background
checks for new employees in security-sensitive positions.
Many universities, including the University of Wisconsin, require background
checks for students enrolling in their education school.
And within the University of Colorado system, the administration instituted
its first system-wide background check policy upon discovery that it didn't
have one, according to CU spokeswoman Michele McKinney.
"It predominantly focuses on employees in security-sensitive positions,"
said McKinney of the policy, implemented July 1 after a year of research.
"Each campus has its own background check policy as far as students."
McKinney noted that CU Health Sciences Center has a more rigorous background
check policy than other campuses, due to the nature of positions and research
there.
Provost Phil DiStefano explained CU-Boulder's policy, which resembles
those of most public universities in the nation.
"The discussions we've had is that we certainly do them on staff
in highly sensitive areas," he said, using the Office of the Bursar,
which handles cash, as an example.
"What we do when students fill out the admission application is ask
them if they committed a felony," he said, adding that if the university
discovers a student lied on the application, Judicial Affairs handles
the situation.
"Given that we get 20,000 applications, it's really difficult if
not impossible to do a background check on each one," said DiStefano.
In a university press release, UNC's DePaolo noted the difficulty inherent
in checking the criminal backgrounds of thousands of students.
"To do thorough and complete background checks would require searching
beyond the reach of (North Carolina) court records," she said. "Also,
the majority of our incoming students have just reached the age of no
longer being legally considered a juvenile, and as you know, the records
of juveniles are sealed and therefore unavailable to us."
CU Police Lieutenant John Kish explained that there are lots of reasons
why blanket background checks aren't automatic.
Kish said besides practicality issues, the criteria used to perform a
background check may be vague, whether searching for current outstanding
warrants, past criminal activity or driving records.
CU Police provide background checks for applicants in sensitive positions
outlined by university policy, but they are conducted in a strict, job-specific
nexus, he said.
"When we do pre-employment there's always a connection with what
we're looking at or for - tied to duties of the job class," said
Kish.
For instance, if a person is applying to be an environmental health and
safety inspector or driver for hazardous materials, police check to make
sure the person has no DUI convictions and no information related to hazardous
materials - such as a conviction for running a meth lab.
Other issues include how the information is handled with respect to privacy,
personal rights and what criteria is used to determine whether a person
is turned away from the university, he indicated.
"Things are being evaluated because people want to know if the university
is safe, but administrators have limits," said Kish. "You can't
deny a person admissions because they had bad times in their lives."
As far as mimicking Baylor or Penn State, when it comes to student athletes
and faculty, respectively, CU officials said the university's reference
checks are sufficient.
Dave Plati, CU assistant athletic director for Media Relations, said athletics
uses the natural recruitment process to learn about a prospective athlete.
"Nobody gets recruited without meeting parents," he said.
DiStefano noted that CU-Boulder does not complete a criminal background
check on faculty applicants. Although James McDaniel, a CU assistant professor
of communication, was recently charged with attempted murder, DiStefano
said it was his understanding that a background check would not have turned
up any information on McDaniel.
"We have a very long and deliberate search process that takes place,"
said DiStefano of the faculty application process. "The checks that
we do are mainly academic. If there is anything in that person's past
it comes out in that check."
DiStefano said CU will continue having conversations with Paul Tabolt,
vice chancellor for administration, about what staff positions may necessitate
background checks in the interest of student safety.
As far as the students themselves, DiStefano said, "I'm sure we'll
have those conversations," noting that the university must take the
volume of applications and privacy into account.
"We certainly need to take a look at that how we handle that,"
he said.
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