University Senate Executive Committee

Statement on Criminal Background Checks

for Prospective Employees

February  2008

 

 

1.         The University has the responsibility to make employment decisions that are in the best interests of its teaching, scholarly, and service mission and to provide a safe and healthy environment in which students, faculty, staff and visitors to our campuses can engage in activities related to that mission.  In the ordinary course of hiring decisions, it is of course necessary and appropriate to seek as much relevant information as possible about candidates.  The ultimate responsibility for hiring decisions and the corollary responsibility to establish processes for gathering the necessary information to make sound hiring decisions rest with the Chancellor.  This includes the decision about whether criminal background checks are cost-justified.

 

2.         To the extent that a criminal record is public information, a search for that information in respect to candidates for employment at the University does not infringe their privacy rights.  Nonetheless, such information is sensitive and it is important for the University to have a clear and consistent policy for seeking such information and for limiting its dissemination.  Candidates should be informed of the University policy regarding criminal records checks and told if they will be subject to such a search as a matter of policy.

 

3.         The vitally important issue, from the perspective of University Governance representatives, is how information about a candidate’s criminal record is treated.  For example, if a criminal record is discovered, we believe that such a record should not be treated as automatically disqualifying, but rather should be considered in light of the circumstances, such as the nature of the offense, how long ago it occurred, the applicant’s subsequent record, and the type of the employment for which a candidate is being considered. 

 

4.         Because background checks may reveal sensitive information that is prone to misuse, it is essential that, in the absence of any compelling reasons for disclosure to others, information concerning a candidate’s criminal record should be treated as confidential and shared only with those responsible for the hiring decision.