A March 7 article on Inside Higher Ed discusses a decision by the University of Pennsylvania’s Faculty Senate executive committee to reject a proposal to develop a policy requiring prospective faculty to divulge prior criminal convictions. Over the past several years, a few professors at Penn have come under fire for being involving in some sensational criminal cases. The question for Penn is whether they should set a uniform HR policy of requiring criminal histories on applications. Some jobs require this information, but not all.
I confess that I am not a professional educator. I work in the business world, and yes, a question about criminal background was on the application. “Have you ever been convicted of a crime other than a minor traffic violation?” is a standard question on job applications. Unless a firm has a policy of “no criminal convictions,” this question does not disqualify applicants immediately unless the conviction was recent or relevant to the job. Lets say an applicant has a shoplifting conviction – would you hire this person as a clerk in your clothing store? I think not.
If you answer “yes” to the criminal history question, normally there are a few lines available to explain the conviction. As a manager, I do not trash an application or resume but I do look at how long has it been since the conviction, its relevance and its seriousness. My company does a background and credit check – many large companies do the same thing. It’s normal and expected.
Penn is getting some negative press in an era when school safety is often in the news. Knowing about a person’s criminal history does not mean that they will act inappropriately in the classroom. However, the public leaps to conclusions all the time, and this time the conclusion is that safety is compromised if the professor has a criminal record. The University should listen carefully to what their contributors are saying – get in step with modern hiring standards.
Does this mean that criminals will try to get hired on at universities because they can cover their criminal backgrounds? I doubt it – but this article reminds us again of the gulf between academia and the “real world.” Why is there such a gap between them? A professional educator is a professional, just as I am a professional in my field. Standards must be applied or perceived integrity is cheapened. Penn and others with inconsistent policies should require honest answers to background questions. Asking about criminal histories on an application is a standard in business. Educational “companies” like Penn are out of step and probably don’t even know it.