Edwards Had Held 3 UNC Jobs

Dwayne Russell Edwards, who has held positions at three different University facilities since August, was charged with seven felonies in Chapel Hill this week in connection with Tuesday's Chapel Hill rape. The Carrboro police have charged him with 33 felonies in relation to one rape and one sexual assault in Carrboro in late December.

Edwards served jail time in Illinois for more than five months in 1997 and 1998 for counts of burglary and forgery, The Herald-Sun reported Thursday.

Edwards also had previous arrests last year in Cumberland County for breaking and entering and felony larceny.

But because a University employment policy only requires background checks for jobs considered positions of trust, the University was unaware of the prison time Edwards served and his numerous arrests.

Judy Sladen, director of Tar Heel Temps, part of UNC's human resources department, said positions of trust are considered occupations, such as housekeeping, where the employee has access to other people's personal property. Edwards was employed at the University through Tar Heel Temps, which provides temporary employees for the University. "University policy is that if a worker is going into a position of trust, a criminal background check is run," Sladen said. "(Edwards) did not go into a position of trust, so there was no background check."

But Edwards filled several positions at the University, one of which gave him access to students' personal information.

Edwards worked in a clerical position at Student Health Service last semester for a duration of four months. Such a position gave Edwards access to students' telephone numbers and addresses on the SHS database after students provided a PID number as part of appointment scheduling procedures.

"His assignment was to help students schedule appointments to see our providers," said Bob Wirag, director of SHS.

Edwards then worked at the Registrar's Office from Dec. 28 to Jan. 3. He also underwent training to work in Davis Library until his employment with Tar Heel Temps was terminated Jan. 8. Sladen said Edwards was fired because he did not show up for work and did not call about his absence.

Joe Hewitt, associate provost for University libraries, said he has no say over which temporary employees are hired at the libraries. "We basically take whoever is sent over (from Tar Heel Temps) because they have a (screening) process set up at Tar Heel Temps," Hewitt said. "We have had a number of Tar Heel Temps, and this is the first case like this."

But some students consider the University employment policy too lenient. "I think that anybody with a University job should have a background check," said Katie Giarratana, a freshman from Davidson.

Akilah Nelson, a sophomore from Lawnside, N.J., agreed. "If someone is going to have access to vital information that we are supposed to guard and protect anyway, I don't see how that (job) is not considered a position of trust."

But University officials still feel the incident is under control. "I think that any time that we can, we need to know as much about any one we hire, whether permanent or temporary, regardless of the job," said Derek Poarch, director of the Department of Public Safety. "But with the amount of people that the University hires, certainly people fall through the cracks."

The University Editor can be reached at udesk@unc.edu.