By Jeanine Poggi

Professors applying for a job at the University must now answer for the mistakes of their past. Beginning in the 2006-07 academic year, all new faculty will face mandatory criminal and educational background checks before being hired, Melissa Connolly, vice president of University Relations said.

“This news caught us all by surprise,” Patricia Smith, a professor in the English department and member of the Department Personnel Committee (DPC) said. Smith received an e-mail Wednesday afternoon with a link to the background investigation forms found on the Provost Web site.

“If people were aware of this there would not have been such a commotion in our department today. This is very disturbing,” she said. “As to my recollection, there has not been any notification of a change of policy in this regard.”

As of June 1, 2004 only candidates applying for administrative positions were subjected to background checks. In September 2005 the University decided to integrate these checks into the hiring process of full-time faculty, and last month the searches were also approved for adjuncts, Connolly said. The new faculty hired for the fall of 2006 will be the first pool of professors investigated.

According to the background investigation forms, “The report will not be used for any other purpose. In the event that information from the report is whole or in part in making an adverse decision with regard to your potential employment, before making the adverse decision, we will provide you with a copy of the consumer report in writing and a description of your rights under the law.”

“If we find any kind of criminal record this does not mean the applicant will not be considered for hire,” Connolly said.

These checks will be performed by the ADP Screening and Selection Services, a consumer reporting agency.

“There has been no announcement of the new policy, for obvious reasons,” Professor James Berger, chair of the English DPC, said.

“I would guess that people will be quite disturbed by it. It’s a new form of surveillance, and for what real purpose? In spite of the isolated case here and there, the infiltration of criminals into universities is not a problem. So what is the problem that this new policy thinks it’s addressing?”

While this is the first time the policy will be utilized, the issue of background checks was raised last semester, when an adjunct professor was arraigned.

Jamal Watson, an adjunct in the School of Communications last fall, was arraigned in November on charges of larceny, fourth degree and accused of stealing money from the Amsterdam News where he was an executive editor. Watson was not convicted of the crime and the case is still pending. After his arrest, Watson continued to teach at the University until the end of the fall semester.

Provost Herman Berliner said the University decided to keep the professor for the remainder of the semester because the charge was based only on allegations and Watson had not been convicted of any crime.

“We evaluate a situation like this based on if it effects the safety of students,” Berliner said. “If something happens when a professor is teaching here we investigate on our own and determine if it will affect their ability to work in the classroom.”

“If I would have known [about Jamal Watson’s past], I wouldn’t have been in favor of hiring him,” Professor Barbara Kelly, chair of the Department of Journalism and Mass Media Studies, said.”But I also believe what happens in the walls of a house is personal.”

Connolly stressed that even if they discover a criminal recor, this does not prove guilt.

Before September 2005, background checks were not conducted when hiring any faculty members.

In the School of Liberal Arts and Sciences Dean Bernard Firestone said, “In the past we did not actually have background checks, but we insist on transcripts, references and letters of recommendation.”

When hiring new faculty, the Department Personnel Committee (DPC), chair and dean of department are supposed to follow the Faculty Policy Series, which is a list of guidelines and qualifications for faculty appointment, Dr. Nathan Slavin, associate professor and chair of the accounting DPC said.

These guidelines include: creating a docket for top candidates with a resume and personal data sheet, transcript confirming most recent degree, three letters of recommendation and an evaluation by the candidate’s current or last employer.

A recommendation by the chair and DPC should also be included.

However, in the past the University did not seem to strictly adhere to these guidelines.

If University administrators had contacted Watson’s former employers they would have discovered an altercation with a Boston Globe colleague over a missing wallet.

In an exchange of e-mails obtained by The Chronicle, Watson confesses to his Globe co-worker that he took the wallet. There were no criminal charges filed in the case.

Other academic departments are also guilty of failing to follow protocol.

“We don’t ask for a transcript to verify degrees,” Berger said.

“It is just tacky and it is rare that someone would cheat their way into professorship. Maybe we are suckers or saps here in the English department, but it seems highly unusual for this to happen and [background checks] are probably not necessary.”

“This [background checks] is becoming a trend nationwide,” Berliner said. “We don’t want to be surprised and want to guard against these surprises.”

University announces plan to conduct background checks when hiring faculty.