Following pressure from state legislators, University of Wisconsin campuses will perform criminal background checks after a Board of Regents decision Friday.
Last March, a legislative audit found 40 felons were working in the University of Wisconsin System last fall. Twenty-seven of the felons, two of which were convicted murderers, were employed at UW-Madison's campus, according to the audit.
Following the audit, state Rep. Scott Suder, R-Abbotsford, and state Sen. Rob Cowles, R-Green Bay, called on the Board of Regents to require mandatory background checks for all UW System faculty and staff and make them more uniform.
Suder said though the policy is a move in the right direction, he wants to make sure complete background screenings are given to all employees and that the university does not hire any felons with criminal records.
I will call [the policy] a good step. I am looking at it a bit skeptically because I want to see what the policy actually does and to make sure that it actually accomplishes its goals,"" Suder said.
""At first glance I would say they have listened to many of us on this one particular issue and it is a reform I will give the university credit for initiating,"" he said.
The Joint Committee of Finance will look at the costs of implementing the background checks as they complete the rest of their 2007-2009 budgetary process.
Suder said he is open to discussion with the regents to ensure proper funding for the program.
