Despite gaps in the background check process for most Ohio State faculty and some students, the university is equipped to deal with people who threaten violence.
That was the message at a discussion about campus safety during a Board of Trustees subcommittee meeting Thursday.
The discussion was in response to the campus shooting in March, when a third-shift custodial worker, Nathaniel Brown, shot and killed supervisor Larry Wallington, and himself and wounded another.
Since the shooting, “the university community has taken a vigorous look at its various procedures,” said Martha Garland, vice president for Student Life, who led the discussion.
That includes not only background checks, but also a number of counseling and intervention programs to deal with “distressed and disturbed” individuals, Garland said.
The university’s approach to background checks is “evolving to be more inclusive over time,” she said.
Still, most faculty members do not undergo checks.
Board member John Ong mentioned both the March shooting and a shooting at the University of Alabama by a professor in February, before he pressed for a review of the background check policy to be included in future safety plans.
Ong also brought up the fact that a background check performed before the shooter was hired in 2009 showed a clean record, even though he had served prison time for receiving stolen property.
“That was a problem that can happen with paper records that go into computer files that check against each other,” Garland said, because inaccurate birth dates and Social Security numbers might return erroneous results.
Another gap has emerged, Garland said, because returning students who have been away from the university for a period of time and have been re-admitted are not asked about criminal history.
The Office of Student Life has been working to fix the gap with returning students, Garland said. Changes will likely take effect next year, she said.
As for the faculty gap, Larry Lewellen, vice president for Human Resources, said in an e-mail that a group within Human Resources is examining background check policy and will make a recommendation within two weeks.
“A background check is not a magic bullet,” but only one part of campus safety, Garland said after the meeting.
In addition to background checks, the discussion also touched on the crisis and counseling teams often called to handle disruptive students or employees.
Director of Counseling and Consultation Services Louise Douce said OSU’s crisis team policy is “the model” for other universities “in terms of bringing everyone who has a concern into the room.”
But in response to questions from board members, she said there is no way to force disturbed students to seek help.
Rather, the team “would develop a strategy in terms of how we dealt with the behavior,” she said, including involving the police if necessary.
Douce also said that anxiety-related disorders are the fastest-growing mental health issue at OSU, but the counseling program is not staffed to meet its goal of being able to accommodate 8 percent of the student population.
The Board of Trustees will likely take no further action, Garland said. The purpose of the presentation and discussion, she said, was to provide information about various campus safety measures.
