Iowa State University's Faculty Senate approved a controversial policy on Tuesday standardizing employment verification and background checks for hiring all regular, full-time and part-time positions. The senate approved the measure 34-18.

The policy states the verification and background checks will not be used to discriminate on any basis protected by law or ISU policy. Additionally, it states that neither criminal conviction or negative credit history are automatic bars to employment. The university would consider the nature and circumstances of each case as well as the relevance to the position in question.

The policy emerged from the work of a 2007 task force that reviewed ISU's decentralized employment screening practices along with other colleges and universities and then recommended that ISU's practices be standardized under a university-wide policy.

A committee began drafting a policy in January 2008, sharing it with a variety of campus groups including representatives of Faculty Senate, Professional and Scientific Council, Supervisory and Confidentiality Council and the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees.

Senator Annemarie Butler, assistant professor of philosophy, said the Department of Philosophy and Religious studies recommended rejecting the policy.

"We have legislation here with language that promises not to discriminate, but it's naive to think we would not. My department objects to all of it. It invites bad culture," she said.

Senator Leonard Sadosky, assistant professor of history, voiced similar concerns, including possible infringement on academic freedom and research, which "sometimes involves foreign countries, and controversial topics and associations," he said.

Sadosky also raised a concern about delays due to the "mechanics of the bureaucratic process," and faculty senate president-elect Arnold van der Valk asked about procedures for handling "sensitive information."

Executive Vice President and Provost Elizabeth Hoffman asserted that the policy would not curtail academic freedom or political expression, which she called "bulwarks" of ISU's culture.

In terms of "bureaucratic delays," she said the automated checks "literally take minutes" and the actual turnaround would be 24 hours and cost about $100 paid by the department hiring for the position.

Hoffman said only two human resources staff will have access to files, and when it comes time to write policy implementation guidelines, she would recommend procedures for destroying the information soon as it is no longer needed.

Citing rare but high-profile cases at other universities involving murder, sexual assault and harassment, and falsification of credentials, Hoffman said, "There is urgency to get this policy passed from a risk management perspective. We owe it to our students and their parents. Most major universities have this in place and we are behind."

The policy will not apply to undergraduate, graduate student, postdoctoral positions and temporary positions. Also, some non-administrative positions would be excluded from credit checks.