Last week, Dean of Arts and Sciences Susan Birren terminated the appointment of Pippin Ross as lecturer in journalism at the University. The circumstances surrounding the hiring and subsequent dismissal of Ms. Ross are far from commonplace. However, information that has recently surfaced concerning the decision to initially employ Ms. Ross, whose criminal history was never examined by anyone at the University prior to her hiring, moves us to question the current hiring process for faculty.

The University has an obligation to both its students and the academic community to ensure that all faculty members meet the teaching standards of the University. This translates as ensuring that candidates for faculty positions have the pertinent degrees or necessary experience to complete their duties. However, at no point does the University consider the bearing that a candidate's criminal history may have upon those same duties.

Director of the Journalism Program Prof. Maura Farrelly (AMST) recommended Ross to fill a last-minute opening after consulting one reference and speaking with Ross twice. Dr. Birren then formally completed the hire, as mandated by the University hiring process. Currently, the University does not mandate a criminal background check for any potential faculty hires. This should not be the case. We urge the University to begin ordering criminal background checks of future candidates for faculty appointments.

We do not wish to speculate on whether knowledge of Ms. Ross' specific criminal history should have affected her hiring. However, we view the general absence of such information from the process as irresponsible.

Those charged with the hiring process, the department and program heads, as well as the dean of Arts and Sciences, must be made aware of a candidate's criminal history when considering a candidate. Faculty hired must meet the standards of the University in the expertise of their subject and their character, to the extent that it may affect their abilities as researchers, instructors and mentors.

Knowledge of a potential faculty member's criminal history could also prepare department and program heads in the event that colleagues or students raise issues concerning that faculty member's actions.

The University need not and should not mandate that departments ensure their candidates are free of any criminal history. Departments and programs must retain their autonomy and judgment if we are to foster a truly open and successful academic environment. However, those involved with the hiring process must be aware of candidates' criminal history in order to decide whether such information potentially affects a person's ability to function as a faculty member here.

The University should seek to fill its faculty with only those candidates that are qualified to assume such posts. That entails a hiring process with an awareness of all information relevant to both a candidate's character and expertise in the field.

The circumstances surrounding Ms. Ross' dismissal were exceptional. However, the process of her hiring was the norm. It shouldn't be.