虽然对教职员工的背景调查似乎已经到来是一件好事，但问他们为什么实际上花了这么长时间是一个很好的问题。北卡罗来纳州杜克大学早就应该采取的举措，很快将要求希望成为教职员工的人接受强制性刑事检查。最近有报道称，该大学的行政部门也在考虑对现任教职员工进行安全检查，这是自 1980 年以来对新员工进行的相同类型的测试。
甚至教职员工似乎也同意背景调查可能早就应该进行了。杜克学术委员会主席 Susan Lozier 似乎同意这一点。在与理事会交谈时，洛齐尔明确表示，确实没有理由不将检查应用于所有教职员工。这可能意味着大学雇用的每一位教职员工都会得到与清洁人员一样的背景调查。
当然，不久前，全国各地的大学都以比其他人都高的标准来培养教师。事实上，就在 2008 年，俄克拉荷马城大学的大卫·埃文斯 (David Evans) 为对教职员工的特殊待遇进行了辩护。在为《高等教育纪事》撰稿时，他称背景调查的可能性“侮辱”和“贬低”那些拥有高级学位的人。
尽管背景调查在大多数职业的就业市场上变得越来越普遍，但全国各地的不同大学仍然存在一些阻力。2012 年 11 月，在佛罗里达湾沿岸大学，环境研究教授 Win Everham 在为 Eagle News 撰写的一篇文章中询问了检查的有效性。提出的问题是该政策是否明智，或者是否是一种花钱“让我们认为我们更安全”的方式？在文章中，另一位教授赞同学生指纹识别作为替代方案。
然而，在北卡罗来纳州的达勒姆，那些被问到的人似乎对这个想法没有意见（或至少接受了这个想法），并认为背景调查中的 DWI 应该取消某人作为大学公共汽车司机的资格。同样，对于大学来说，雇用以前有毒品犯罪记录的人在大学的化学实验室工作可能是一种尴尬。这似乎在全世界都说得通，即使是那些原本反对新规则的人也倾向于同意。
杜克大学的教务长彼得兰格没有预见到背景调查的新政策会吓跑想要加入教职员工的新人。这是因为他预计某人会出现犯罪过去的案件数量将非常接近于零。杜克政府副总裁凯尔·卡瓦诺（Kyle Cavanaugh）同意这个数字会很小，但也指出“在今天的环境下，我们怎么能不这样做呢？” 希望检查将按照建议进行。
While it is a good thing that background checks for faculty members seem to have arrived, it is a good question to ask why they actually took as long as they did. In a move that should have arrived a long time ago, Duke University in North Carolina will soon require that people looking to become part of their faculty take mandatory criminal checks. It was reported recently that the administration department at the university is looking into getting security checks for current members of the faculty as well, which is the same type of test given to new hires ever since the year 1980.
Even members of the faculty and staff seem to agree that the background checks may be long overdue. Duke Academic Council’s chair Susan Lozier seems to agree. While speaking to the council, Lozier articulated that there really is no reason why the checks should not be applied to all members of the faculty. That could mean every faculty member the university would hire would get the same check into their background that the janitorial staff would get.
Of course, it has not been too long since universities around the country held faculty at a higher standard than everyone else in their staff. In fact, as recently as 2008, David Evans from the Oklahoma City University defended special treatment for the faculty staff. While writing for the Chronicle of Higher Education, he called the possibility of background checks “insulting” and “degrading” to those with advanced degrees.
Though background checks are becoming more common in the job market for most professions, there is still some resistance from the different universities throughout the country. In November of 2012 at the Florida Gulf Coast University, Win Everham, who is a professor of environmental studies, asked about the effectiveness of checks in an article written for the Eagle News. The question posed was whether the policy was smart or if it was a way to spend money “to make us think we are more safe?” In the article, another professor endorsed the fingerprinting of students as an alternative.
In Durham, North Carolina however, those asked seem to be fine with the idea (or at least resigned to it) and feel that a DWI in a background check should disqualify someone to work as a bus driver for the university. Likewise, it could be an embarrassment for the university to hire someone with a previous drug conviction to work at the university’s chemistry labs. This seems to make all the sense in the world, and even those who would otherwise oppose the new rules are inclined to agree.
Duke’s provost, Peter Lange, does not foresee the new policies for background checks scaring new people who want to join the faculty away. This is because he expects the number of cases in which someone would show up with a criminal past would be very close to zero. Kyle Cavanaugh, who is the VP for Duke’s administration, agrees that the number would be small, but also points out that “in today’s environment, how can we not do this?” The hope is that the checks will go forward as per the recommendation.
Like Duke, most universities will be interested in the criminal histories of applicants. By partnering with backgroundchecks.com, they can use a US OneSEARCH product, which has access to more than 450 million criminal records nationwide. They can also take a look at performing an Education Verification, to make sure potential faculty members have the qualifications they calim to teach their respective disciplines.
