The Nebraska State College System adopted two new policies at the Board of Trustees meeting on Jan. 14, causing a stir among some Wayne State College employees.

WSC President’s Office sent employees information about the policies through email and a memo from Human Resources.

WSC employees learned in Policy 5040–“Criminal Background Checks; Employees” –that they will be the subject of criminal background checks every five years. The second policy will provide access to IntegraReport Hotline, which allows system personnel to report anonymously any violations or inappropriate activities in the workplace by other colleagues.

“The new background check policy is driven by the liability insurance provider,” Stan Carpenter, Chancellor of the NSCS, said last week.

Carpenter said that the insurance carrier for the system notified the office in June 2013 that current employees will have “ongoing” background checks in order for the “Sexual Abuse and Molestation” coverage to be renewed on July 1, 2013.

According to the Jan. 14 minutes, the NSCS would have lost the umbrella limit coverage, which is extra liability coverage in 2013-2014 and the basic liability coverage in 2014-2015, if the policy was not executed.

Carpenter was given authorization to implement the policy from the NSCS board. Then Kristen Petersen, who is in charge of legal and employee relations, sent the policy information to the colleges at the end of January, allowing them time to voice questions or concerns.

“The information got to the colleges well,” Carpenter said.

WSC President Curt Frye said the background checks will ensure safety on campus.

“There are a lot of young people on campus. Not only are there students always on campus, but there are basketball tournaments, speech meets, Kiddie College and the like,” Frye said. “Visitors and students need to be safe.”

Starting this month, 20 percent of employees were chosen to have a background check, including full-time, part-time and temporary employees, student workers and interns. The check has to be completed at least once every five years.

“In the early mid-2000s, newly hired employees were required to have a background check upon hiring,” Carpenter said. “Those who were hired before that time were ‘grandfathered in’ and did not have to be checked. With Policy 5040 all employees, new and old, now need a background check.”

The employees who are going to be reviewed are required to send their contact information along with social security number and driver’s license number to a consumer reporting agency. General Information Services (GIS) in Chapin, S.C., was the agency that was chosen by the NSCS.

“We looked for venders to provide the best service prior to the request for the proposal of the policy,” Carpenter said.

Carpenter said GIS is a trustworthy agency that fits all the requirements of the NSCS.

A WSC support staff member, who wished to remain anonymous, wondered if the NSCS couldn’t have found an agency that is more local.

Employees are entitled to request a copy of the background check report from GIS. The agency will provide help to understand the results if needed.

If a conviction is found in the background report, the employee will not be terminated automatically, but there will be an in-depth review before the college makes any decision about disciplinary actions.

The 2013 Employee Handbook provides a list of the reasons for disciplinary action under “Work Rules and Disciplinary Action.” These reasons include: falsification, fraud or omission of required information on the employment application and conviction of a job-related criminal offense.

If a criminal offense is found in the background report, considerations concerning the relevance of the offense to the employee’s job responsibilities, the amount of time that has elapsed since the last offense, the severity and number of offenses, sex offender registry and others are reviewed.

Dr. Pamela Everett, assistant professor of criminal justice, said she would have liked to see the authority from either the state law or the employment conditions for the checks to be authorized.

“I understand that it has a rational relation to our job, but I would have liked to be notified first and understand the legal standpoint of the background checks,” Everett said.

“We [the WSC employees] chose to work for the state, which has the right to do the background checks,” the support staff member said.

The IntegraReport Hotline, implemented in January, was also approved at the board meeting Jan. 14.

It allows employees to anonymously report any suspected violations of policies and procedures or potentially inappropriate activities in the workplace.

“The hotline is for transparency,” Frye said. “There are 400 employees to check out, and there’s no way to keep track of them all.”

When a person raises questions or concerns through the hotline, the NSCS will be able to be aware of potential problems early on. This helps to reduce the possibility of any detriment to the institutions.

“It is a good business practice to put in place,” Carpenter said. “It allows us to get on top of problems as soon as possible, so we can react quickly to issues.”

Some employees may be leery that coworkers will call the hotline out of spite, but Frye said that has not happened yet.

Carpenter said he understands why there are these worries, but if that issue came about, they would be able to sort it out easily.

“Our employees are good folks who care about the offices they work in,” Carpenter said. “I have no concern that this will happen.”

If someone is to be reported, the college will talk to them about the issue, hoping to resolve it, and not terminate them on the spot.

“WSC is just like any other industry, it [the hotline] was going to happen sometime,” Frye said.

Questions have been raised as to whether or not the implementation of the hotline and the background checks are in any way related to criminal activities involving former Peru State College President Ben Johnson.

For background information read:

New policy connected to Peru State President?