7-9 Criminal Background Checks for students

• Attachments are included in the PDF file.
• Effective date of this revision: April 20, 2012
• Contact for more information: Program Director; Vice Provost

POLICY STATEMENT

Several Michigan Public Acts, as well as federal laws, now require that any individual who regularly provides services to certain segments of the population (generally, those deemed “vulnerable” or “special,” including but not limited to children and the sick) must submit to a criminal background check in order to obtain and maintain privileges in clinical and/or educational settings. Additionally, many sites affiliated with the Central Michigan University (CMU) for educational purposes have adopted this requirement.

The educational and clinical sites of many CMU Programs (a full list may be found on the Academic Affairs website http://www.academicaffairs.cmich.edu/agreements/) require CMU students to participate in the care of clients, patients, and children in various clinical or educational settings. CMU students are, therefore, subject to this legislation. Students accepted into these programs are therefore accepted contingent on passing a criminal background check.

POLICY

All students assigned to the sites for clinical and/or educational experiences listed in on the Academic Affairs Agreements website ( www.academicaffairs.cmich.edu/agreements) are required to complete, and pass, a criminal background check prior to beginning their first field experience and thereafter as required by the program. This is a dynamic list. The Affiliation Coordinator is responsible for maintaining and posting daily an accurate and current list of affiliates requiring a criminal background check.

Cost: The student shall be responsible for paying any costs associated with any fingerprinting and/or completion of the background check that is required.

Review: The criminal background check results will be subject to administrative review by the relevant program and in some cases the affiliated site. Certain convictions may be considered a disqualifying factor for enrollment or continuation in CMU’s programs.

Use and Care of Information Contained in a Criminal Background Check Report: CMU will only use the information contained in the criminal background check report to evaluate a student’s qualifications for enrollment or continued participation in a particular clinical or educational program. CMU may furnish the information to third parties in the course of fulfilling its official responsibilities that are required as part of CMU’s affiliation agreements with clinical or educational sites where students will be placed, or the relevant program’s professional or technical standards. Reports will be kept in locked, confidential files separate from the student’s academic file and destroyed once the student is no longer enrolled in the program at CMU, or when the results are no longer relevant.

GUIDELINES

CMU Oversight: The program director may delegate tasks described in these guidelines to an internship coordinator, student teaching coordinator, placement site coordinator and/or other designee. However, the program director remains the responsible party for purposes of this Policy.

Student’s responsibilities: Each student required to provide a criminal background check must provide documentation that they have completed the fingerprinting and criminal background check as required by their program. Students may need to provide this information at the time of admission to the program and/or prior to beginning a clinical or educational internship. Students need to be aware of the requirements of their program and provide this information in compliance with the stated due date.

Students will complete the Informed Consent for Criminal Background Investigation form (Attachment A) and return it to their program director on or before the due date. This form authorizes Central Michigan University to release the information to clinical or educational sites requiring this information.

Students will receive instructions from the program director regarding how to complete the criminal background check, approved vendors, CMU identification numbers, and other procedures. Students will receive a copy of the Prescribed Summary of Consumer Rights (Attachment B) explaining the student’s rights under this act. Students must have the results of the criminal background check sent to their program director prior to beginning their clinical or educational experience and in time for clearance to participate at the clinical or educational site. Each program will communicate a recommended timeline to its students.

False or misleading statements: Any false information communicated during this process may be grounds for the immediate rejection of the student or immediate dismissal of a current student.

Results of the criminal background check: Results of the criminal background check will be sent to the relevant program director directly by the vendor. The program director will use this information to evaluate a student’s qualification for enrollment or continued participation in the program. CMU may furnish such information to third parties in the course of fulfilling its official responsibilities that are required as part of CMU’s affiliation agreements with clinical or educational sites or the relevant program’s professional or technical standards. The results of the criminal background check will be maintained in a secure file with access limited to the program director and/or designee. The results will be maintained separate from the student’s academic file and will be destroyed once the individual is no longer a student in the program, is rejected as a student due to the results of the criminal background check, or when the results are no longer relevant.

Decision, hearing, and appeals: In the event that the student does not receive clearance, a meeting will be scheduled with the program director and the student to discuss the information received. The student will be given an opportunity to respond to the information. Based upon the outcome of this meeting, a decision will then be made by the program director, or if necessary, a designated committee, regarding the student’s admission to or continuance in the clinical or educational program.

Obligation of students admitted to the clinical or educational programs: The student has an ongoing obligation to report any criminal charges or conviction to the program director within 2 business days of its occurrence. Failure to do so, or to comply with any other aspect of this policy, may result in immediate dismissal from the program.

Central Michigan University reserves the right to make exceptions to, modify or eliminate this policy and or its content. This document supersedes all previous policies, procedures or guidelines relative to this subject.