Fourteen people were listed on the college’s website, www.jccc.edu, as registered sex offenders.
According to the website the Department of Public Safety “has received notification of registered sex offenders that currently work, teach, volunteer, visit or attend classes on the campus of
According to www.securityoncampus.org, the public posting of such a list is in concordance with the Campus Sex Crimes Prevention Act, sponsored by Jon Kyl, senator of
The Act is an amendment to the Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act which requires sex offenders already required to register with the state “to provide notice, as required under state law, of each institution of higher education in that state at which the person is employed, carries on a vocation, or is a student.”
According to the September 2007 Board of Trustees report one of the names on the college’s list of sex offenders was listed as a recommendation to hire as a work study employee from August 20, 2007 to May 16, 2008 at $8.96/hour. The recommendation was accepted.
This person has been registered since August 5, 2005 for lewd and lascivious behavior.
Chris Christensen, director of Financial Aid, said this person is no longer employed as a work study student.
How long was he employed at the college?
Becky Centlivre-Meinke, director of Human Resources said he was employed as administrative support in the Railroad Operations department during the Fall 2006, Spring 2007 and Fall 2007 semesters.
“Overall the college has no policy regarding the employment of registered sex offenders,” Centlivre-Meinke said. “Certain jobs (i.e. Children’s center) would prohibit a registered sex offender from that type of work.”
Centlivre-Meinke said the college is looking into policies, procedures and guidelines with regards to background checks of prospective employees.
“There are a lot of issues that need to be considered,” Centlivre-Meinke said. “A committee is being established to address all of those concerns.”
Centlivre-Meinke said a board policy is already in place concerning background checks.
“The committee will help establish the pass/fail criteria for specific positions and outcome should an existing employee not pass,” Centlivre-Meinke said.
According to 415.01c Investigative Examination, “The college may require an applicant for a position at the college or current employees of the college to submit to a polygraph or background test, the cost of which will be at the college's expense. A refusal to submit to such exam may be grounds to preclude employment or grounds to suspend, terminate or non-renew.”
Centlivre-Meinke said Human Resources will lead the committee, but various members of other departments will be involved as well.
“The kickoff meeting was this week and the committee plans to meet every other week (or so) until we have the criteria and outcomes established,” Centlivre-Meinke said. “As background checks do not directly affect students (except students who are employed by the college) they were not included on the committee. We have invited a member of the Student Services staff to be on the committee.”
The college has been looking into this issue for quite some time now.
In the article, “Law targets sex offenders on campus” by Courtney Farr from the January 23, 2003 issue of The Campus Ledger, “[Dennis] Day said a committee will be formed, made up of faculty, students, and the college’s attorney to decide what kind of policy should be implemented.”
Dennis Day, vice president of Student Services said, “There has been
a committee working on this issue over the last year chaired by Dorothy
Friedrich [vice president of Policy and Strategic Initiatives]. It led to several recommendations, one of which was to engage a company to perform such checks.”
Friedrich said she led the task force that focused on the requirements for background screenings.
“Human Resources is currently working on the process for implementation,” Friedrich said. “There are other areas where background checks are going on. As far as other areas we have not yet begun.”
Friedrich said much of background checks are in regard to financial matters.
“We want to make sure we are in compliance with the Payment Card industry,” Friedrich said. “They set the standards for how companies use credit card information.”
According to the December 13, 2007 Board of Trustees meeting minutes the Board of Trustees “approved the proposals from HireRight, Inc. at an annual amount not to exceed $21,000.00, and from 1138 Inc. (dba Validity Screening Solutions) at an annual amount not to exceed $10,000.00, for a total estimated annual expenditure not to exceed $31,000.00 for background checks.”
Friedrich said HireRight offered the best level of service at a reasonable cost.
“We did a thorough job selecting the carrier,” Friedrich said. “I know that Human Resources will do a great job in implementing it.”
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