University of Iowa to add criminal background check to application

IOWA CITY - Starting next month, for the first time, all student applicants to the University of Iowa will have to disclose whether they've ever been convicted of a crime or subject to prior scholastic discipline.

And the new criminal background questions eventually will be included on a common application being developed in hopes of improving convenience for students wanting to apply to more than one of Iowa's public universities.

That common application, which officials say will debut in limited form in July as part of the application cycle for fall 2016, is among several recommendations stemming from the Board of Regents' recent 'transparent, inclusive efficiency review” of UI, Iowa State University, and University of Northern Iowa.

Iowa State and UNI for years have included criminal background questions on their undergraduate and graduate applications. UI, which has not previously asked for that information, first began considering adding background questions to its application two years ago, according to Emil Rinderspacher, UI director of admissions.

As part of that process, a UI committee surveyed peer institutions about how they handled applicants who answered 'yes” to those questions. But the committee's discussions stalled last year in light of funding and enrollment concerns, Rinderspacher said in an email to The Gazette.

The university resurrected the discussions this past winter and plans to add questions to its coming application cycle, which begins in July, he said.

UI, ISU, and UNI recently agreed to include criminal background questions on the new common application, although Rinderspacher said he doesn't expect them to be included in the initial version.

'This will be one of the items that the common app committee will discuss adding to the next version for the freshmen entering fall 2017,” Rinderspacher said.

Although UI doesn't currently ask about criminal histories of undergraduate and graduate applicants, it does ask transfer students if they ever have been placed on 'non-academic probation or dismissed or suspended from another college or university for non-academic reasons,” or whether a complaint is pending at an institution that might result in discipline.

'The UI's current question, which is only asked of transfer students, only deals with college or university behavior and only refers to non-academic matters,” according to Rinderspacher.

The criminal background questions used for years at Iowa State differ from those used at UNI. But, in drafting the common application, the three universities agreed to use the wording from Iowa State's criminal background questions.

Have you ever been charged with or subject to disciplinary action for scholastic or any other type of misconduct at any educational institution?

Do you have a pending criminal charge or have you ever been convicted of a crime, made a plea of guilty or not contest, accepted a deferred judgment, or been required to register your name and home address with a local state or law enforcement agency?

(Misdemeanor traffic offenses and charges which have been expunged pursuant to applicable law are exempt.)

The application advises prospects that they 'must respond to these questions or your application will not be processed.” And, if they answer yes to either question, they must submit a 'full statement of relevant facts on a spate sheet attached to this application.”

Phil Caffrey, ISU director of admissions operations and policy, said Iowa State doesn't track the number of students who respond 'yes” to the question about disciplinary action at an educational institution. But, he said, 268 undergraduate and graduate school applicants for fall 2015 - or about 1 percent of ISU's applicant pool - responded 'yes” to the question about criminal convictions or charges.

'Of the vast majority who respond yes and provide an explanation, the conduct at issue is so minor we go ahead and approve it right away,” Caffrey said. 'There is a small percentage who respond and whose conduct is serious enough that we might require the student undergo a background check.”

Some criminal charges or past behavior that might trigger more inspection include serious assault, sexual assault, or distribution of drugs, Caffrey said. Those applicants receive an email alerting them that before ISU processes their application, they must undergo a background check with a third-party vendor.

If, after reviewing the results from that check, officials still have concerns, the application goes before an admissions conduct committee. That group typically makes one of three recommendations - admit the student unconditionally, admit the student under with restrictions and stipulations, or deny the student admission, according to Caffrey.

Those recommendations go to the director of admissions, who has the ultimate say.

'I can tell you confidently that the vast majority of all students who respond yes to that question are approved right away,” Caffrey said. 'Only a small number undergo any kind of background check, and an even smaller percentage have their admission affected by their conduct.”

Rinderspacher said UI's Dean of Students Office will review and investigate applicants who answer 'yes” to its new background questions - just like it does for transfer students who affirmatively answer the institution's existing question.

'We would follow their recommendation from an admission standpoint,” he said.

Some people have expressed concern that minor incidents - like a conviction for possession of alcohol - could result in rejection from a university, according to Caffrey.

'But that's not it at all,” he said. 'They would get in automatically.”

Caffrey said ISU for years has been screening applicants' criminal pasts for more severe and alarming behavior in an effort to create a secure campus environment.

'There are rare instances when we have denied students based on past conduct, but we do so out of concern for the safety of students and staff,” he said.