Akron U. asks: Are you a criminal?
UA to ask students about criminal past
By Carol Biliczky
Beacon Journal staff writer
The University of Akron has stiffened its campus housing policy for students with criminal histories.
The new policy could prevent some students with a history of violent, drug or sexual offenses from living in residence halls, although they still may be admitted to the university.
In unveiling the policy, UA President Luis Proenza told the Board of Trustees Wednesday that the university was committed to campus safety.
``The residence hall experience provided to our students must be the very, very best,'' he said. ``Yet things will happen from time to time, as indeed they do in every large community.''
The policy is a reaction to news in recent months that four UA students as young as 18 have been assigned to live with convicted felons, two in their 40s.
When one of the students complained about being assigned to live with an undercover drug informant with a criminal past, UA awarded him $8,000 but admitted no wrongdoing.
In contrast, most other tax-supported universities in Ohio are more selective about admitting felons to student housing, sometimes forbidding them outright.
At UA, trustees did not comment publicly about the new policy. But trustee Chairman Dr. William Demas acknowledged student Joshua Schaffer, 20, in the audience.
The sophomore from Pepper Pike gathered more than 500 student signatures on a petition that asked trustees to toughen the housing policy. He was not allowed to address trustees at the meeting because he did not ask for permission to speak two weeks in advance, as the trustees require.
However, board members received copies of the petition he circulated and of remarks he had prepared.
In soliciting signatures, Schaffer found some students, who according to the petition, ``said they feel so unsafe that they plan not to return next semester.... There must be more reform in these policies.''
Schaffer was not assigned to live with someone with a criminal past, but said he was concerned for others.
Despite the concern, only one of the four students known to have a criminal past has committed new crimes while at UA and he has been kicked out.
As for the new policy, Proenza said it has been in the works for a few weeks, the product of meetings with his staff.
The policy requires applicants for the 2,500 beds in UA residence halls to disclose criminal histories, excluding minor traffic violations, beginning with the spring semester in January.
If they admit a criminal past, the university will perform background checks to verify the information. It may withhold housing for some students who have committed certain sex, drug or theft offenses or offenses of violence, Proenza told the trustees.
University spokeswoman Kathy Welsh said the cost of a background check typically is $20 to $25.
It isn't known how many students in UA residence halls have criminal histories, because the university hasn't asked the question before.
The new policy requires UA's housing staff to check with potential roommates if the age gap between them is more than five years.
That involves only a few students, Proenza told the board. Only nine students in UA housing are over 25.
In the past, though, UA's decision to house a 45-year-old and a 41-year-old with traditional-age students rattled them and their parents.
In October, UA racheted up screening for employees in the residence halls, requiring them to submit to criminal background checks to be employed.
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