Decision on background checks deferred

The IU board of trustee Friday deferred a decision till September that would implement background checks for tenure track professors, deans and people working with "vulnerable populations." \nThe decision comes at a time when there is substantial disagreement between the faculty and administrators as to the necessity of the checks. \nTrustee Pat Shoulders said the faculty offered to amend some language in their proposal and that is why the vote was delayed.\n"There was some real good debate on that particular issue," Shoulders said. "The trustees were willing to put the vote off until September so we can see what their amended language is like. I think a compromise along the lines presented by the faculty makes a great deal of sense."\nTrustee Sue Talbot agreed with Shoulders' assessment that modifications needed to be made to the language before she would feel comfortable with passing the proposal. Talbot also said the proposal needed to be clear on which office is going to have control of the reports when they are given to the University by a company contracted to perform the checks. Talbot suggested the Dean of Faculties office should be in charge of this responsibility.\nIU-Bloomington Chancellor Ken Gros Louis attended the meeting and said he has mixed emotions about the background check policy.\n"I lean towards the faculty recommendation that only those who work with vulnerable populations should have the checks but I understand some of the trustees view that as soon as something bad happens and (IU) did not do a background check on (that person) the University has a black eye," he said. "I think a concern of the faculty too is that very few universities are doing this right now and I know at a deans meeting we discussed that it would change the culture and atmosphere of the campus. The odds of somebody coming along who is going to be a murderer or a rapist are extremely small but not impossible"