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Tuesday, February 6, 2007
Privacy Vs. Safety: A University Question
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Well, here’s a new one on me: I just learned from reading Andrea Jones’ story that state universities don’t routinely conduct background checks on the employees — including professors — that they hire.
Now the new chancellor of the University System of Georgia wants all campuses to begin checking into the personal histories, including criminal records and academic credentials, of full-time hires.
But there’s already been some push back by professors about the requested policy change. Seems some view this as an invasion of privacy and a policy that might be easily abused.
“Under the new policy, a professor of 16th-century literature would be treated the same as someone in financial operations,” Hugh Hudson, a Georgia State University history professor and head of the state chapter of the American Association of University Professors told Andrea. “How many professors of poetry would you be worried about running a background check on?”
Anyone care to answer Hudson’s question?
