Ban-the-Box legislation has swept across the country in recent years and is now being considered by institutions of higher learning both Colleges and Universities. As legislated by state and local jurisdictions as well as several private companies “Ban-the-Box” eliminates the question of criminal history on the application and controls when a criminal background check can be conducted.
From TheAtlantic.com (Apr. 29, 16):
(1) The long-running “Ban the Box” campaign is now gaining ground at colleges and universities. The movement aims to protect job, and now student, applicants from being asked about their criminal histories and was recently bolstered by President Obama, who is taking executive action to ban the practice at federal agencies. Campus officials say the background question helps them learn as much as possible about prospective students and allows them to take steps to keep everyone on campus safe. But opponents say the question—which requires prospective students to check a box if they have criminal histories—is an undue barrier that harms certain groups of students. theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/04/ban-the-box-comes-to-campus/480195/
New York University now will no longer consider every criminal conviction on an applicant’s record regardless of severity as part of their undergraduate admissions process. Instead the University will use a new set of questions such as has the applicant been convicted of or disciplined for violent incidents. Additionally research has shown that the question of past criminal history records does not predict future behavior in a significant way.
Also from Gothamist.com (Aug. 02, 16):
(1) Studies have shown that having the box on college applications doesn’t make campuses any safer, and NYU reached the same conclusion after an internal assessment of its own disciplinary records. “NYU took a look at the NYU disciplinary records of enrolled students who had checked the box against the overall undergraduate NYU population,” Knoll-Finn stated. “We found no meaningful differences in the rates of infractions.” gothamist.com/2016/08/02/nyu_crime_disclosure_box.php
Changes in background screening have been developing very quickly over the past few years with major changes being seen in the employment screening arena and the tenant screening arena. It was just a matter of time before Colleges and Universities started to examine their own application process and admissions policies. Starting with what questions to ask for along with how they evaluate information derived from student applications. This new trend of admission polices being seriously scrutinized had led to meaningful changes to the standard admission application process. This new readiness highlights a new area where third party background screening companies can be utilized to assist Colleges and Universities make significant changes to their applicant background screening process. These background screening companies can assist the institutions of higher learning to develop and conduct applicant background checks that is compliant with all relevant laws and that help students with a criminal past have a shot at bettering their life.
To read more about this subject read recent press release found here: http://www.criminalbackgroundrecords.com/news/2016-8-24-Ban-the-Box-Type-Policies-May-Impact-Public-and-Private-Institutions-of-Higher-Learning-Admission-Policies.html