University applicant background screening

last month, some universities are taking some big steps in ensuring the safety of their students. At some schools, applicants no longer simply need the right grades to get into their chosen school, but they need a clean background check. Cyrus Behzadi talks in the Daily Trojan about how schools may now perform background checks on their prospective applicants. While 64% require applicants to disclose their criminal records, currently 4% perform the checks themselves. With the University of Virginia and the University of North Carolina two schools which have started this new form of recruitment, it seems to be a trend which is quite clearly on the rise. “At first glance,” Behzadi claims, “this might seem to be an invasion of privacy. It would appear that colleges do not give people with a checkered past a chance.” Nonetheless, many feel it is time to start protecting the innocent and not the guilty – it is the safety of the students and employees at the colleges which is important. Background screening is a key way of maintaining the safety and security of those on campus. As this trends continues, there is sure to be a lot of debate as to where the line is drawn – will some criminal records be minor enough to be ignored? Do we give people a second chance? If so, who? We should surely provide all members of society with the chance to be educated and to attend a state-funded school, which is where the issues may stem from. However, what is important to remember is that the safety of an innocent student is incomparable to the forgiveness of another. Those who have clean checks should surely be accepted above those who don’t. It’s going to be an incredibly difficult balance to find, and many will be watching closely as change begins to develop.]]>