University Human Resources officials say a new background check policy will meet campus privacy expectations even as it offers new tools for identifying potentially inappropriate job candidates.
After an initial U. of I. Board of Trustee Governance, Personnel and Ethics committee review, the policy will be presented to the board of trustees at its Sept. 10 meeting. If approved, it would become university policy Oct. 5.
“This is something members of the board of trustees have been very interested in and something that many of our peers have been doing,” said Maureen Parks, the associate vice president of University Human Resources. “It’s really like having an insurance policy in the hiring process.”
The university has for some time required background checks of employee candidates working with children or in sensitive or high-security areas, but the new policy extends that check to the final candidate for other campus positions.
The proposed changes come at the behest of a working group commissioned by President Emeritus Bob Easter.
At a cost of less than $50 per background check and with more than 4,000 new employees hired last year, Parks estimated the campus cost at less than $200,000 annually – well worth the cost, she said, to ensure new hires are not a threat to the campus.
The checks involve scanning local and national databases, a criminal background check and a review of the National Sex Offender Registry. Other personal data also is verified.
“Background checks are something we’ve been doing for a long time for certain positions,” she said. “It’s just a matter of expanding it to include more candidate screening.”
Parks said the university would follow Equal Employment and Opportunity Commission guidelines allowing case-by-case interpretation for positive “hits” that come up during background checks.
For example, an employee who has a DUI or other offense revealed during the check could still be hired once all circumstances are considered. The age of the person when the offense happened and rehabilitation efforts since, coupled with the question of whether the new job would entail driving, could negate the impact of a positive background hit.
“We can still consider that applicant if what is found doesn’t necessarily impact their ability to do the job” she said. “It allows us to consider the whole picture of the applicant and allows the employer to puts things in perspective as far as the facts and circumstances of the offense.”
Parks said officials are still working out process details based on the varied job classifications across the three campuses. The work includes ensuring an electronic background check system is working across the campuses.
They also are finalizing wording for added privacy protections, an issue that was first pointed out by faculty members of the Urbana-Champaign Senate.
“There is concern about protecting the information and about privacy as it relates to the decisions being made,” she said. “Ultimately, hiring is a campus matter and decisions will be made with the appropriate guidance of campus human resources, legal counsel and the university police department. This will be a very confidential process.”
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