The
UNC Policy Manual
700.5.1[R]
Adopted
10/26/06
Amended
06/29/21
I. Purpose.
The purpose of this regulation is to establish procedures for conducting
student applicant background checks. All
University of North Carolina System (UNC System) constituent institutions will
perform background checks on either (a) all applicants offered admission, or (b)
all applicants offered admission who indicate their intent to attend, before
the applicant may matriculate, as follows:
A.
The UNC Suspension and Expulsion Data Base
B.
The National Student Clearinghouse
A
constituent institution may conduct these background checks on an applicant
before deciding whether or not to offer the candidate admission.
II. UNC System constituent institutions
will perform criminal background checks on applicants being considered for
admission, applicants admitted, or applicants offered admission who have
indicated their intent to attend, before the applicant matriculates, if the
application and supporting materials contain one or more of the following
triggers (or red flags):
A. The application together with
supporting material contains materially inconsistent answers that have not been
satisfactorily explained;
B. The applicant answers one or more of
the following criminal background/discipline questions affirmatively or submits
subsequent information indicating (1) pending criminal charges, (2) acceptance
of responsibility for a crime, (3) criminal convictions, or (4) school
disciplinary action, unless the affirmative answer or supporting material
relates to a school disciplinary action that resulted from an offense that is
remote in time:
1. Have you ever been found responsible
for a disciplinary violation at any educational institution you have attended
from 9th grade (or the equivalent) forward, related to behavioral
misconduct that resulted in your long-term suspension (more than 10 consecutive
days)? Yes No
2. Excluding traffic infractions, have
you ever been found guilty or convicted of a misdemeanor, felony, or other
crime (including special or general court martial)? Yes No
[Note,
that you are not required to answer “yes” to this question, or provide an
explanation if the criminal adjudication or conviction has been expunged,
sealed, annulled, pardoned, destroyed, erased, impounded, or otherwise ordered
by a court to be kept confidential.]
3. Do you have any criminal charges pending
against you? Yes No
4. Excluding traffic violations, have
you ever entered a plea of no contest or nolo contendere, or an Alford plea to
a misdemeanor, felony, or other criminal charge; or received a deferred
prosecution or prayer for judgment continued for such a charge; or otherwise
accepted responsibility for such a crime? Yes No
[Note,
that you are not required to answer “yes” to this question, or provide an
explanation if the criminal adjudication or conviction has been expunged,
sealed, annulled, pardoned, destroyed, erased, impounded, or otherwise ordered
by a court to be kept confidential.]
C. The application omits one or more
answers without an acceptable explanation for the omission;
D. The application has an unexplained
time period since graduation from high school during which the applicant was
not, for example, enrolled in higher education, enlisted in the military, or
employed full-time; or
E. Any other reason sufficient to the
constituent institution.
Constituent
institutions are not required to perform criminal background checks on
applicants who are younger than 16 years old at the time of the acceptance.
III. A constituent institution that is going to conduct a
criminal background check must obtain the applicant’s consent, either in
writing or electronically, to the criminal background check and to the use of
the applicant’s social security number for purposes of the check. Alternatively, the constituent institution
may provide instructions for the applicant to initiate the criminal background
check directly through a specified vendor. If legally permissible, the
constituent institution will offer as an alternative to allow a fingerprint
check without using a social security number. The constituent institution or vendor
consent will require the applicant to list the places the applicant has lived
or gone to school outside North Carolina for more than six months in the last seven
years at a time that the applicant was at least 16 years old.
IV. A constituent institution may either include the cost of
conducting background checks in an increase to the general application fee or
may charge the cost of criminal background checks to the applicant who is the
subject of the check.
V. The
scope of the criminal background check will depend on the residential history
of the applicant:
A. For current North Carolina residents
whose applications and release forms do not disclose more than six months out
of North Carolina, a North Carolina criminal background check will be
conducted.
B. For nonresidents and North Carolina residents
whose applications or release forms disclose significant time outside North
Carolina, a residence check will be conducted, and then a criminal background
check will be conducted for all appropriate states unless the applicant opts
for a national FBI fingerprint check.
C.
For international students, a criminal background check of
appropriate scope will be conducted.
VI. Students who are admitted within two weeks before classes
begin and who are subject to having a criminal background check pursuant to section
III., above, are allowed to be conditionally admitted and are allowed to
matriculate pending the results of a criminal background check.
VII. The vendor or other entity conducting the criminal
background check will provide the constituent institution with a list of
applicants with no criminal record, and the constituent institution will have
electronic or paper access to the information for the applicants whose check
shows a positive criminal record.
VIII. If an applicant has a positive criminal or disciplinary
record, the constituent institution must:
A. Compare the results of the checks to
the application and supplemental information supplied by the applicant to
determine discrepancies. If there are no
discrepancies and if the constituent institution has made an individual
determination that the applicant does not pose a significant threat to campus
safety, and there is no additional information indicating that a decision to
admit should be modified, the applicant may be admitted or a previous decision
to admit may stand.
B. If there are discrepancies, or if
there is information indicating that admission decision should be further
examined, the constituent institution must provide the applicant an opportunity
either to demonstrate that the report of criminal, disciplinary or other
relevant history was erroneous (e.g. wrong person) or to explain the
discrepancy.
C. If the report is determined to be
accurate and there is a discrepancy between the reported information and the
application or supporting material the applicant submitted, or there is
additional information that amplifies the application information or otherwise
indicates that the admission should be examined further:
1. The presumption is that the
admission will be denied or withdrawn if the applicant has failed accurately to
disclose relevant information in response to a question on the application. The
burden is on the applicant to demonstrate that the omission or misinformation
was the result of an honest mistake, that it was not intended to mislead, and
that the applicant should be admitted in spite of the failure to disclose.
2. If the failure to disclose accurate
information does not result in the denial of or withdrawal of the offer of
admission, but there is information that draws the decision to admit into
question, before the student may matriculate, the constituent institution must
make an individual determination as to whether the nature of any crime committed
or other behavior disclosed, together with other available information,
suggests that the applicant will pose a significant threat to campus safety or that the
applicant’s behavior violates a graduate or professional school code of
professional ethics. If the constituent
institution determines that there is a significant threat, the admission must
be denied or withdrawn. If not, the
student may be admitted in accordance with the normal admission process.
IX. Each constituent institution must maintain a record of the
kinds of background checks, if any, conducted on each applicant and the results
of those checks. If an applicant’s
record shows a history of conviction of, guilty plea to, or acceptance of
responsibility for a crime or a significant disciplinary sanction at another
educational institution, the constituent institution must maintain a record of
the process used to determine whether or not the student posed a significant
threat to campus safety and of the basis for that determination.
X. Other
Matters
A.
Effective
Date. The requirements of this regulation will be in effect for fall 2022
admissions.
B. Relation to State Laws. The foregoing
regulation as adopted by the president is meant to supplement, and does not
purport to supplant or modify, those statutory enactments, regulations, and
policies which may govern the activities of public officials.