College security checks backed

Faculty members at Utah universities are not subject to the intense background scrutiny faced by public school teachers, but one legislator wants to find out exactly who is working at the state's colleges and universities.

Rep. Ronda Rudd Menlove, R-Garland, is pushing a measure this session to require new hires at Utah's public institutions of higher education to undergo federal background checks much like those required of elementary school teachers.

"If it's my daughter in a university class, I want to know she is interacting with people who don't have something like that (a crime) in their background," Menlove said. "Many of these are 17- to 18-year-old students who are coming to a university setting. Do we know who's working at our institutions of higher education?"

A new Deseret Morning News/KSL-TV poll shows many Utahns agree with Menlove, with 88 percent of respondents saying higher education faculty members should definitely or probably have to get federal background checks as a condition of hiring.

Only 9 percent of the 418 respondents statewide said faculty probably or definitely should not be subject to criminal checks.

The poll, conducted by Dan Jones & Associates Feb. 6-8, has a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percent.

Menlove said she's not surprised by the support for the background checks, saying most people think it makes sense to "create a safe environment for students."

The bill, HB196, however, has been bogged down for several weeks, she said, while higher education leaders have tried to work out the kinks.

At first, the bill required all current and future employees get background checks at an initial cost of about $1.5 million. Now, the bill estimates a cost of about $728,000 in the first year to do checks on half of current employees and half of new hires.

Menlove said she plans to amend that version again Monday in the House Education Committee to require only about half of new hires to get the checks at a cost of $59,000 for the first year. After that, the cost would be handed over to potential employees.

The bill particularly emphasizes the need to perform background checks for positions that involve significant contact with minors or that have a high level of security clearance. Dormitory workers and teachers with extensive contact with students under 21 are at the top of Menlove's list for getting the background checks, she said.

Menlove added that she's trying to be careful not to "create hysteria" or imply that there may be lots of criminals running classrooms or working on university campuses.

"At this point we don't know; it may be no problem at all. Let's prevent, that's my main goal," she said.