When the Office of Residential Life and Learning (ORLL) hired new administrative assistant Thomas Amos, he wasn't subjected to a criminal background check. Amos was hired at the beginning of the semester to replace Kenneth Hall, who was convicted as a sex offender in June.
"There are no immediate plans to expand background checks to anyone else [in our office]," ORLL Director Yolanda King said in an e-mail.
Vice President of Human Resources Kathe Cronin said that Tufts is rethinking its criminal background check policy, but since this process is still underway, Amos did not undergo one.
"At this time we only conduct background checks on the non-student, live-in staff in the residence halls," she said in an e-mail. "The administrative assistant and staff assistant do not have [keycard] access to the residence halls."
The director, associate director and assistant director of the ORLL have also gone through criminal background checks, Cronin said. Each of these officials has direct access to the dormitories.
General Tufts pre-employment checks are run on staff employees to verify past employment history and educational credentials.
Tufts then performs criminal background checks for a number of positions, including those that involve unsupervised interaction with children. Public Safety employees and people who hold certain research jobs also undergo criminal checks.
Tufts does this by requesting, usually through an outside company, Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) checks. The Massachusetts Criminal History Systems Board (CHSB) then provides the records.
Erin Deveney, the general counsel for the CHSB, said it is not unusual for an employer to contract background checks out to a firm.
"There are commercial entities that provide commercial background check services," she said.
Many Massachusetts colleges and universities also use CORI checks, but policies vary from place to place.
"When it comes to criminal background checks, some colleges do very little in checking criminal histories [and] others check the criminal histories of all employees," Cronin said.
Current Boston College policy holds, for example, that only its children's center workers and police department employees undergo criminal checks, according to BC Human Resources Staff Assistant Karen McDermit.
Meanwhile, Cronin said her office is currently making sure that Tufts' policies are adequate.
"Each institution tries to find an appropriate policy for its population. This is an area that Tufts is looking into carefully," she said.
Dean of Student Affairs Bruce Reitman said that this process began here before university officials learned about Hall.
"The conversation [about background checks] preceded any particular incident," he said. "It's in the industry in general."
He believes that the current policy of checking on educational credentials and verifying work experience usually works well.
"Generally, that takes care of most situations, but maybe not sufficiently," he said.
Reitman also said he understands that some may be more comfortable with more extensive checks.
"Students are concerned and should be about personal safety," he said.
Amos forwarded questions concerning his feelings about his new job and about his previous employment experience to King.
"At this time, we have provided all the information we would like to share," King said.
