Auburn University Administrative and Professional Assembly


January 26, 1999 - 2:00 p. m.

Room 213, James E. Foy Student Union Building

Michael Miller, Chair, called the meeting to order at 2:00 p. m. On the agenda, Item IV. Higher Education Partnership (HEP), is being removed because Mr. Gordon Stone, HEP Executive Director, canceled. Mr. Stone did express interest in speaking to the AP Assembly at a future meeting. Miller thanked the members of the audience for attending. For those attending Miller stated that the AP Assembly follows Robert's Rules of Order, and that as Assembly Chair he would either open the floor for audi ence participation or recognize a specific individual.

Representatives present: Joe Aderholdt, Judy Allen, John Asmuth, Thina Biblis, Jane Goff, Mickie Jacob, Scott Kaak, Jack Lawton, Michael Miller, Donna Mitcham, Larry Moore, Kevin Robinson, Janine Slick, Tom Sparrow, Teresa Vest

The minutes from the October 20, 1998 meeting were reviewed. Corrections were pointed out. Kaak moved that the minutes be accepted as amended. Slick seconded the motion and it carried.

Background Checks on New Hires
Miller welcomed Darwin Liverance, Assistant Vice President of Human Resources (HR), Angela Erlandson, Manager of the Employment Service Department, and Pat Deery, Manager of HR Development. According to Mr. Liverance, background checks are not new at AU. However, on January 5, 1999, an official policy regarding background checks went into effect. This policy was presented and approved via "Deans, Directors, and Department Heads," and can be found at Section 2.4.10 of the AU Personnel Policy and Pro cedure Manual.

Previously, background checks were only conducted on selected employee classifications. This typically included those employees who dealt with cash, had access to student housing and the general student population, and for classifications within "spec ial" departments such as Public Safety, Locksmith Shop (Facilities), etc. Originally, the Department of Public Safety performed background checks. However, this procedure became problematic. Although Public Safety had access to regional and national databases, they "technically" could not provide this information for the purpose of employee background checks. Subsequently, the Alabama Bureau of Investigation (ABI) performed the checks, revealing any recorded criminal acts within the State of Alabama only. These inadequate checks led AU to outsource background checks with IGI Employee Screening, Inc. of Houston, Texas.

Since the selected classifications referenced above employed many minorities, AU faced an issue of a potentially adverse impact regarding background checks and minority employees. Another growing area of concern was/is employee bondability. If an a pplicant does not disclose his/her convictions regarding felonies and/or misdemeanors then the potential employee is not bondable.

The University felt that it was in the best interest to either discontinue background checks or expand background checks to include additional new hires. The decision made was to include all new staff and AP hires under the background check policy. A U faculty members, tenure track and non-tenure track, are excluded from the background check policy. Consideration was given to the inclusion of faculty, but this has been tabled now because faculty are governed by policies that are not part of the Depa rtment of Human Resources. Provost Walker is sensitive to the concept of background checks for new faculty hires, but he has stated that he does not want to further pursue or implement this at this time.

Turnaround time on background checks has fallen within the range of 24 to 72 hours. Most checks have returned in the shorter time frame of 24 to 36 hours. The average cost is approximately $35 to $40 per check. When considering the funds that AU s pends in order to recruit/select an employee, this cost is quite minimal and a very worthwhile expenditure to the department.

Mr. Liverance invited questions from the Assembly. Assembly members raised several questions, issues, and concerns. Concern was raised that background checks would add as much as one to three days to an already slow process of hiring a new employee. Additionally, the issue was raised regarding an employee that is a current AU employee that through a competitive hiring process is offered a new position at the University. If a background check uncovered problems, what would be the fate of that employ ee? Would he/she be permitted to stay in their current position? Several Assembly members were concerned that background checks do not include faculty. In general, the Assembly was positive as to the intent of the background check policy. However, it seems discriminatory that all AU employees are NOT included in this policy. Several members of the audience also expressed concerns. Some employees felt that background checks were an invasion of privacy. Others reiterated the point that the intent of the policy is good, but it should be streamlined as best as possible so that it not further slow the hiring process.

Proposed AP External Consulting Policy
Miller presented a draft of the AP Consulting Policy developed by the AP Professional Development Committee. As background information, the consulting issue dates back to the early 1990s, when the "professional" members of the AP body were previously cla ssified as "Administrative/Faculty". Many professionals qualified and applied for consulting under the old "Administrative/Faculty" policy (essentially the faculty policy and the UPO-10). When the professional employee was reclassified to "Administra tive/Professional", the consulting policy became less clear and inconsistently applied. With the acceptance of the "Multiple Jobs" policy (July 1998) all external consulting opportunities for AP employees ended. As stated in the text of the multiple job s policy, the UPO-10 is exclusively for faculty use. At this time, the draft is presented for informational purposes. The support of upper administration needs to be established if this draft has the chance to become policy. Miller opened questioning from the Assembly followed by questions from the audien ce. A majority of the comments were in approval of being able to once again have a consulting policy that would apply to AP employees.

New Business:

Old Business:

In closing, Miller thanked Jane Goff for arranging the meeting logistics, and once again thanked the Assembly and the audience members for their attendance. Allen moved for the meeting to adjourn, seconded by Robinson. The motion carried and the meeting was adjourned at approximately 4:00 p. m.

Respectfully submitted,

Donna D. Mitcham
Secretary