DCVPA is committed to providing a safe and secure environment for its students, staff, visitors, and constituents, as well as a setting in which the UNCW’s assets are protected. To that end, it is the policy of DCVPA that all applicants for DCVPA ‘school personnel’ positions as defined in N.C.G.S. §116-239.12(a)(2) are subject to the University’s receipt of a satisfactory ‘Criminal history’ record check report as defined in N.C.G.S. §116-239.12(a)(1), in order to facilitate informed decisions. This policy’s requirements are in addition to the requirements for UNCW employees under UNCW Policy 08.151.

A. The Chancellor, or his or her designee, shall apply this policy uniformly and in the following respects:

1. may grant conditional approval of an application while the person's criminal history is being checked and making a decision based on the results of the check. An applicant for a school personnel position shall not be required to be checked for a criminal history if he or she has received a license within six months of employment that required a criminal history check equivalent to the criminal history check required in N.C.G.S. §116-239.12(c);

2. require applicants to be checked by the Department of Public Safety in order (i) to be fingerprinted and to provide any additional information required by the Department of Public Safety to a person designated by DCVPA or to the local sheriff or the municipal police, whichever is more convenient for the person and (ii) to sign a form consenting to the check of the criminal record and to the use of fingerprints and other identifying information required by the repositories; 

3. shall consider refusal to consent when making employment decisions and decisions with regard to independent contractors;

4. shall review the criminal history it receives on an individual and shall determine whether the results of the review indicate that the individual (i) poses a threat to the physical safety of students or personnel or (ii) has demonstrated that he or she does not have the integrity or honesty to fulfill his or her duties as school personnel and shall use the information when making employment decisions and decisions with regard to independent contractors;

5. shall make written findings with regard to how it used the information when making employment decisions and decisions with regard to independent contractors; and

6. shall provide to the State Board of Education the criminal history it receives on a person who is certificated, certified, or licensed by the State Board of Education. The State Board of Education shall review the criminal history and determine whether the person's certificate or license should be revoked in accordance with State laws and rules regarding revocation.

B. The fingerprints of the individual shall be forwarded to the State Bureau of Investigation for a search of the State criminal history record file, and the State Bureau of Investigation shall forward a set of fingerprints to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for a national criminal history record check. The Department of Public Safety shall provide to the chancellor the criminal history from the State and National Repositories of Criminal Histories of any school personnel for which the chancellor requires a criminal history record check.

Issued: July 12, 2018