Falling through the cracks
Ginny Tyson: Assistant News Editor
Issue date: 1/24/08 Section: News
UNCW officials do not perform random background checks on students within the university.
When asked how many students were living on campus with criminal records, Assistant Vice Chancellor and Dean of Students Michael Walker said, "We don't track that."
Background checks are performed on flagged applications and also at the discretion of faculty but not at random, leaving chances for convicted felons and students accused of crimes to fall through the cracks.
When an application is sent to the university, the applicant provides information about his or her personal history in Section C: Campus Safety Questions. This includes a selection of yes or no questions about whether or not he or she has ever been charged with a crime or suspended from any educational institution.
According to Walker, "If you answer affirmatively to any of these questions then your application gets flagged for further review."
This means the application is pulled and the Campus Safety Investigation process begins. During this process, the "flagged" applicant is asked to give further explanation of the charges and the outcome of the charges as it played out in court. Then, the university conducts a background report.
"The [background checking] system is just very incomplete," UNCW police chief David M. Donaldson said. "There are limitations in the system."
Donaldson said the problems with background checking systems ranged from applicants misspelling their names to the expensive costs and labor-intensive time it takes to conduct the research.
Currently, the university utilizes a number of "scatter shot methods" to monitor student behavior, including regular communication with a Wilmington Police Department liaison, local news sources and UNCW campus police officials.
"After you're enrolled, if something happens you have no obligation to tell the institution and we have no definitive way of knowing things that they do and things that happen off campus," Walker said.
When asked how many students were living on campus with criminal records, Assistant Vice Chancellor and Dean of Students Michael Walker said, "We don't track that."
Background checks are performed on flagged applications and also at the discretion of faculty but not at random, leaving chances for convicted felons and students accused of crimes to fall through the cracks.
When an application is sent to the university, the applicant provides information about his or her personal history in Section C: Campus Safety Questions. This includes a selection of yes or no questions about whether or not he or she has ever been charged with a crime or suspended from any educational institution.
According to Walker, "If you answer affirmatively to any of these questions then your application gets flagged for further review."
This means the application is pulled and the Campus Safety Investigation process begins. During this process, the "flagged" applicant is asked to give further explanation of the charges and the outcome of the charges as it played out in court. Then, the university conducts a background report.
"The [background checking] system is just very incomplete," UNCW police chief David M. Donaldson said. "There are limitations in the system."
Donaldson said the problems with background checking systems ranged from applicants misspelling their names to the expensive costs and labor-intensive time it takes to conduct the research.
Currently, the university utilizes a number of "scatter shot methods" to monitor student behavior, including regular communication with a Wilmington Police Department liaison, local news sources and UNCW campus police officials.
"After you're enrolled, if something happens you have no obligation to tell the institution and we have no definitive way of knowing things that they do and things that happen off campus," Walker said.
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