Currently, only some Duke faculty members have to undergo background checks. Right now though, there are talks in which policy makers are deciding whether or not to make that a universal policy across the entire campus. In other words, every single faculty member would be required to consent to a background check before being eligible for employment at Duke University.

The Academic Council is in charge of the decision, and more talks are planned for this Thursday. The policy change is meant to be similar to similar regulations at institutions across the nation. Kyle Cavanaugh, Vice President for Administration says that implement universal background checks for all university hires has become a sort of best practice, not only in the academic world, but in all industries. Thus, it is only natural that Duke follows suit.

Of course, though he supports the new policy, he wants to make sure everyone knows how it will work. He believes it should be an objective, thorough, and confidential process. He says it’s also up to the university to make sure every check is done in the same way.

Ph. D. student, Tripp Young, may soon have to undergo the background check himself, and he is fine with it. He said he’s had background checks for all of his other jobs, and doesn’t see why he wouldn’t need to for the university. His background is in the military, specifically in intelligence operations, where background information can be crucial to the job. While he says that information might not be as important in the university setting, it can provide beneficial information when making hiring decisions.

There is also a possibility that the checks may be required of current faculty members, but this has not yet been discussed. If the policy does go to that extent though, Cavanaugh stressed that it would not be to weed out any particular members. Instead, it would be to create a “protected atmosphere for those involved with the university.” In other words, they want to make sure they perform their due diligence when it comes to providing a safe and secure place of learning and employment.

When it comes to vetting potential professions, the most useful background tool would likely be Education Verification. At backgroundchecks.com, companies can invest in this type of check to find out for sure whether or not someone holds the degrees they claim on their application. For universities interested in criminal behavior though, they will likely want to invest in an additional US One SEARCH, which searches more than 450 million records nationwide. Of course, educational facilities may go with an entire package of screening tools, including drug screening, reference verifications, registered offender searches, or even ongoing criminal monitoring. As long as each tool is used objectively, they can learn a lot about both potential and current employees.

About backgroundchecks.com -

backgroundchecks.com - a founding member of the National Association of Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS®) and cofounder of the Expungement Clearinghouse - serves thousands of customers nationwide, from small businesses to Fortune 100 companies by providing comprehensive screening services. Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, with an Eastern Operations Center in Chapin, S.C., backgroundchecks.com is home to one of the largest online criminal conviction databases in the industry. For more information about backgroundchecks’ offerings, please visit www.backgroundchecks.com.

Source: http://www.dukechronicle.com/articles/2013/03/19/duke-mulls-background-checks-all-new-faculty

Author: Michael Klazema

A recently passed policy at Pennsylvania State University now requires all new hires and contract employees to complete a criminal background check before they receive final approval to report to work. This new policy, known as the “Background Check Process”, combines three previous Penn State policies into a more encompassing procedure that also is in compliance with the recent background check guidelines from the EEOC. According to associate vice president for Human Resources, Susan Basso, the new policy will create a safer environment at the University, and will assist in making better hiring decisions while minimizing risk.

The policy puts in place a more straight-forward process to make sure a candidate’s criminal history and records regarding potential child abuse are reviewed. The background checks will only be used for evaluating a candidate’s eligibility for working with the University. Also, current employees in “sensitive/critical” positions are required to undergo a background check if one has not been completed. Under the policy, sensitive and critical positions are defined as those responsible for protected data, such as auditors, tech staff, and payroll; positions with access to all facilities on the campus; and those responsible for hazardous materials or controlled substances. The updated policy covers volunteer and third-party employees, which the previous policies did not. Based on the nature of the job, other verifications besides a background check may be required also. These could include checking educational credentials, driving records, and employment history. For those in positions with access to the University’s financial resources, checks of credit histories will also be implemented.

A record of criminal conviction will not automatically result in disqualification for the individual, but the type of offense in relation to the job and how serious the offense was will be considered by the University. If a background check turns up a disqualifying offense, then the candidate will receive notification and have an opportunity to give additional information in order to resolve the issue. The University also has the right to conduct background checks on current employees if there are reasonable grounds for doing so. This includes if a check was never performed, if there is an incident on the job, or if a new or current position requires a background check. Although background check records will be part of employees’ personnel files, they will be kept separately from the employees’ regular personnel files in order to maintain confidentiality.

Are you performing background checks as part of the hiring process for your business? And what about ongoing checks for those already employed? If you’re not using a company like backgroundchecks.com, you could be making a big mistake. Their access to countless criminal databases nationwide will provide you with many options, several with instant results. Their US OneSEARCH gives you instant information from more than 430 million criminal records from counties, Department of Corrections (DOC), Administration of Courts (AOC) and State Sex Offender Registries covering 49 states plus Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, and Guam. Also included are national and international terrorism sources, more than 11 million photos, and their proprietary database of previously completed reports. Or try their Ongoing Criminal Monitoring tool, which allows you to automatically run a continuous background check against a name and date of birth. They will run the name for one year and remind you when it is time to renew the monitoring, plus you can remove the name from being monitored at any time.

About backgroundchecks.com -

backgroundchecks.com - a founding member of the National Association of Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS®) - serves thousands of customers nationwide, from small businesses to Fortune 100 companies by providing comprehensive screening services. Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, with an Eastern Operations Center in Chapin, S.C., backgroundchecks.com is home to one of the largest online criminal conviction databases in the industry. For more information about backgroundchecks’ offerings, please visit www.backgroundchecks.com.

Source: http://gantdaily.com/2012/07/06/penn-state-introduces-new-background-check-for-final-job-approval/

The US State Department was at first entertaining the idea of requiring host families to undergo background checks in order to protect students, but they have recently decided not to continue with those plans.  Due to budget restraints, the State Department feels it would be too much of an undertaking for states to put host families through checks.  It’s already difficult to find enough families willing to host the 30,000 high school exchange students visiting our country each year.  Adding the background check requirement would likely limit them even more.  Unfortunately though, dozens of cases of abuse, including sexual abuse, have been reported in host family situations.

Some districts do require a local or state background check, but none require a national check and so miss many crimes committed by hosts who have fled their original states.  One sponsor, in fact, was discovered to have a murder conviction on their record.  Many of the organizations who carry out the process of finding host families were found to be in noncompliance, having not gone through the proper procedures like checking references and normally did not offer checks through reputable companies like backgroundchecks.com.

It seems school districts and these organizations both should be concerned with checking databases like US Offender OneSEARCH to make sure a potential host is not a registered offender anywhere in the nation, or even US OneSEARCH which checks for criminal convictions records in multiple jurisdictions across all 50 states.  Although budget concerns are a big priority right now, there are affordable alternative for traditional background checks that can uncover criminal records fast and easy. It would be sad to think that the biggest impression our country leaves on a foreign exchange student might be such a terrible one because we chose not to take any steps to protect them.

About backgroundchecks.com -

backgroundchecks.com - a founding member of the National Association of Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS®) - serves thousands of customers nationwide, from small businesses to Fortune 100 companies by providing comprehensive screening services.  Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, with an Eastern Operations Center in Chapin, S.C., backgroundchecks.com is home to one of the largest online criminal conviction databases in the industry. For more information about backgroundchecks’ offerings, please visit www.backgroundchecks.com.

Source: http://washington.cbslocal.com/2012/03/14/state-department-background-checks-on-foreign-exchange-hosts-not-feasible/

The firm that runs the swan boat rides in Boston has recently revealed that they do not put their employees through background checks, even though they commonly work around children, the elderly and disabled residents. As part of the city’s department of Parks and Recreation, Boston Finance Commission Executive Director Matthew Cahill has demanded an audit of the department immediately and to find out why background checks are not being done.

The swan boat rides typically run from April to September and generally is run by nearby college students, however, most of them have never been put through a background check at all. There is no telling what type of backgrounds these students have, yet they are . This could be an extremely dangerous situation.

The only way to be on top of this is to run background checks on all employees. Hiring a third party back ground company like backgroundchecks.com may be the best way to do this. They have various products, like their US OneSEARCH, which not only will provide a look at criminal records in all fifty states, but also will check sex offender databases throughout the country. All of this can help keep children, the elderly and the disabled, safe.

About backgroundchecks.com -

backgroundchecks.com - a founding member of the National Association of Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS®) - serves thousands of customers nationwide, from small businesses to Fortune 100 companies by providing comprehensive screening services.  Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, with an Eastern Operations Center in Chapin, S.C., backgroundchecks.com is home to one of the largest online criminal conviction databases in the industry. For more information about backgroundchecks’ offerings, please visit www.backgroundchecks.com.

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Source: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view/20220302no_criminal_checks_on_employees/