As Penn continues to discuss changes to its hiring practices, the possibility of a self-disclosure question for faculty has the University treading in uncharted waters.
A Faculty Senate committee is weighing whether or not to require prospective faculty members to disclose criminal backgrounds - a policy that, if implemented, will be the first of its kind in the Ivy League.
Higher-education experts say Penn's initiatives will potentially serve as a prototype for its peer institutions, but without a model to follow, Faculty Sentate chairman Larry Gladney said ironing out the details has been difficult.
Any self-disclosure policy Penn decides to implement "needs to be created from scratch," he said.
Issues about the policy include where to place a self-disclosure question in the hiring process, who would have access to the tresponses and what criminal background information is most relevant to employment.
The Faculty Senate is considering the issue as part of the University's review of hiring and admissions practices that follows last spring's discovery that at least three convicted sex felons were employed by or taking classes at Penn.
Self-disclosure and background checks for faculty are becoming increasingly common across the country, but because of the policy's novelty in the Ivy League, Gladney said Penn would be "very visible" if it decides to change its hiring policy.
Mary George Opperman, vice president for human resources at Cornell University, agreed that Penn would attract attention if it adjusts its faculty-hiring practices.
At Cornell, Opperman said that self-disclosure for faculty "isn't an option that we've discussed," but Cornell watches other schools' policy changes closely.
And the University isn't hesitant about potentially being the first Ivy to implement a self-disclosure policy.
"Faculty recognize that they hold a very trusted position," Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs Vincent Price said. "Penn is not reluctant about moving ahead of its peers if we're confident the policy is sound."
Critics have said potential hires might be less likely to apply at a school where their background would be examined, but initiating a self-disclosure policy before other schools might also give Penn an advantage.
"One of the opportunities in being first is that people with unsavory elements in their past will be more inclined to apply elsewhere for positions," said Ann Franke, president of Wise Results, a firm that advises colleges on legal risks.
Elise Burton, a consultant with Stevens Strategy, a higher-education consulting firm, added that she saw little harm in initiating a self-disclosure policy, saying that, after a year or two, "if it's ineffective or off-putting to potential faculty members, the University could re-think it."
And while faculty checks are something of a new frontier, increased checks on other employees have started to become standard.
Yale University, for example, expanded its background-check program for staff members in June, and, last spring, Penn began to require all employees hired by contracted vendors to undergo background checks.
Various officials, including Price, attributed the increased interest in examining applicants' backgrounds stems to security issues created after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and a desire to eliminate uncertainties about a potential hire.
"You're never really sure when you make a decision to hire that the person is exactly what he or she seems to be," Stevens Strategy founder John Stevens said.
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