Decision Points in Higher Education Administration: The Case of Criminal Background Checks

Abstract

This hypothetical teaching case illustrates the complex issues that human resources (HR) professionals in higher education may face when making day-to-day employment decisions. This is particularly evident with recruiting and hiring—from applications to interviews, from offers to background checks. Here, an HR professional, with many years of experience but new to higher education, weighs the results of criminal background checks for two Associate Dean positions at a small private university in New York City. As part of the review and decision-making process, the HR professional has a series of meetings with the HR Director, the Dean, and in-house legal counsel. This case considers how HR professionals must navigate through sometimes competing institutional interests.