Each year UW-Madison applicants submit transcripts and ACT scores to the university in hopes of proving they are up to UW-Madison criteria. However, while admissions officials make sure each UW-Madison student meets a certain set of requirements, the process for becoming an instructor at the university is much less standardized.
Still, the actual procedure for hiring a professor is a lengthy one, according to Stephen Lund, director of the Academic Personnel Office.
It involves creating a job description for the open position and then receiving the department's, the dean's and Academic Personnel Office's approval.
While all these offices are needed to employ a professor, background checks are not demanded.
\There is no mandatory background check on campus. It would be unusual for every employee to have one [background check] done,"" he said, comparing UW-Madison's policy to other campuses.
The procedure for hiring a teaching assistant is very different than a professor.
""The bottom line is that teaching assistants have to be graduate students and one who is in good standing,"" Mary Westphal-Johnson, associate dean for the College of Letters and Science, said.
All TAs need to complete eight hours of training and take advantage of the workshops offered to improve their teaching skills.
When these qualifications are met, a graduate student may apply to become a TA. Each department establishes the criteria required to employ a TA, as stated in the Teaching Assistants' Association contract.
Those departments that need numerous TAs, such as Chemistry or English, can recruit potential teaching assistants that are also graduates from other schools.
Yet just as professors, teaching assistants do not require background searches either.
""It is up to individual instructors to do reference checks [or] background searches. It is easy for us to check student records so if an instructor wants to check for the student's status to make sure the application is accurate, we can,"" said Su Ann Rose, Women's Studies program administrator.
Foreign TAs follow the same procedure, but need to be competent in English. This is ascertained via speaking tests or by meeting other standards set forth by each department.
""Departments are observing people who have problems with English,"" Westphal Johnson said. Some even record classes and discuss with TAs what they may be doing wrong.
Although professors and teaching assistants are not subject to stringent background searches, those in positions that provide care for others, such as childcare or health care, must have a background check completed before being offered a position. This requirement is part of Wisconsin's Caregiver Law, Lund said.
If a background search is necessary, or the department decides to perform one, the information obtained does not always prevent the prospective employee from being offered the job. ""You have to look at it on a case-by-case basis,"" Lund said.
For example, he said if an accountant were guilty of driving under the influence, this would not prevent him from getting a job, unless his accounting position somehow demanded use of a motor vehicle.
Background searches and standards are set forth by each individual department with a few exceptions. According to Lund, supervisors may decide to perform background checks on their own prior to hiring a new employee or if allegations occur after the employee is hired.
