UNC Hiring Undergoes Close Study

Edwards was placed in three different University facilities from August until the time of his arrest through Tar Heel Temps. He was charged with seven felonies by Chapel Hill police in connection with the rape of a UNC student in January and also was charged with 33 felonies by Carrboro police in relation to one rape and one sexual assault late last December.

Representatives from Tar Heel Temps, a division of the Human Resources Department that provides temporary employees for the University, say background checks are only run on employees who are being hired for a position of trust. Positions of trust are occupations, such as housekeeping, in which the employee has access to others' personal property.

But a committee recently has been formed to discuss the possibility of changing Tar Heel Temps' hiring policy.

Although Edwards worked at Student Health Service where he had access to personal information of student callers, his position was not classified as one of trust and his criminal past was not discovered until after his arrest.

Prior to his arrest, Edwards had served more than five months in jail in 1997 and 1998 in Illinois for burglary and forgery. He also was arrested in Cumberland County for breaking and entering and felony larceny last year.

Drake Maynard, senior director of human resources, said he felt his department was reacting in a proper manner in regards to the hiring policy after Edwards' actions. "We'd like to think we're being responsible," he said. "I think the natural response is to say, 'Is what we have in place adequate?'"

Joe Hewitt, director of library academic affairs, said he would like to see changes made to the Tar Heel Temps' hiring policy. University libraries are often staffed by Tar Heel Temps, and Hewitt discussed the possibility of looking elsewhere for employees if no changes are made. "(If Tar Heel Temps doesn't change its policy), we might look at certain jobs like the circulation desk and decide we wouldn't accept employees from Tar Heel Temps."

Human resources has responded to sentiments like these by forming a committee with the goal of determining what, if any, changes need to be made to the Tar Heel Temps' hiring policy.

The committee is composed of human resources employees and officials from the Department of Public Safety.

"The first meeting is March 12," said DPS Director Derek Poarch. "We are going to take a look at how the whole process of background checks is run."

But Maynard said there are limitations to how much the Human Resources Department can do. There are issues of privacy and civil rights involved, along with possibly discouraging qualified applicants.

"I think it's legitimate for students to have security concerns," he said. "I think our policy has pretty good balance in looking out for the safety of students and the groups we are responsible to and the rights of the workers. There does need to be a balance, and that is the real work of the committee."

Hewitt said that while he wants changes in the hiring policy, he understands the limits. "I like the idea of criminal checks on anybody, but apparently that's not easy to do," he said. "Tar Heel Temps has to deal with a lot of people."

He added that this was UNC libraries' first bad experience, and in the past Tar Heel Temps provided excellent employees. "They really provide a great service to this University."

Maynard said expanding the definition of a position of trust was challenging on a campus with so much access to computers and information. "If we consider access to information as a way to measure a position of trust, lots of our employees have that," he said. "A lot of the stuff is public access."

Staff writer Brook Corwin

contributed to this article.

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