Talking Stick - March/April 2009 - (Page 20) res liFe bAckgRouND cHEckS AREN’T A NEw pHENoMENoN IN HIgHER EDucATIoN. THEy HAVE TypIcALLy bEEN coNDucTED oN gRADuATE STuDENTS AND oN THoSE uNDERgRADuATE STuDENTS wHo ARE ENTERINg pRofESSIoNAL AcADEMIc pRogRAMS SucH AS THE HEALTH pRofESSIoNS, LAw ScHooL, MEDIcAL ScHooL, oR buSINESS ScHooL, To NAME A fEw. questions being added to admissions applications for all students, including full disclosure of whether criminal charges are pending or whether the applicant has ever pled no contest to a crime in the past. In addition to the questions and other implemented protocols, the UNC Suspension and Expulsion Database was created to find out whether a student has been expelled or suspended for violent behavior on any of the other UNC campuses. This sharing of information keeps lines of communication open and provides yet another line of campus safety defense. According to UNC’s “Regulation on Student Background Checks” document (www. northcarolina.edu/content.php/legal/ policymanual/uncpolicymanual_700_ 5_1_r.htm), a check will be conducted on all new applicants if certain triggers or red flags are noticed on the application. For example, if an applicant answers one or more of the six criminal background/discipline questions affirmatively, or if they submit further information indicating pending criminal charges, acceptance of responsibility for a crime, criminal convictions, or school disciplinary action, they will be subject to a background check unless, as the document states, “the affirmative answer or supporting material relates to a school disciplinary action that resulted from an offense that is remote in time or was insubstantial.” This new process in university admissions was used system-wide in late 2007. At that time, 101 applicants were denied admission, 30 of them from the Wilmington campus. proteCting resiDenCe Halls one baCkgrounD CHeCk at a time Statistics show that a significant number of campus crimes occur within residence halls. Although not every institution requires background checks on admitted students, some have started requiring these checks coNTINuES 55 http://www.northcarolina.edu/content.php/legal/policymanual/uncpolicymanual_700_5_1_r.htm http://www.northcarolina.edu/content.php/legal/policymanual/uncpolicymanual_700_5_1_r.htm http://www.northcarolina.edu/content.php/legal/policymanual/uncpolicymanual_700_5_1_r.htm http://www.nssinc.com http://www.nssinc.com
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.