Some University of Illinois faculty members worry that a policy expanding employee background checks could compromise privacy.
Employees with "security-sensitive" or money-handling positions and those who work with children are now checked. But starting this summer all new employees will be checked by a South Carolina firm at a cost of $45 a person.
The Urbana-Champaign campus faculty senate sent a letter to administrators last week asking for greater privacy protections. Some faculty members are concerned about an outside firm handling the information.
Deborah Stone is director of academic human resources. She said data safeguards are built into the contract and notes that the company, General Information Services, is set up to check, handle and secure such information.
