UI Admissions Moves the Box

In other local criminal justice reform news, the University of Illinois system, including the UIUC campus, will no longer be screening admissions applicants for criminal background. After admission is approved, however, there will still be potential scrutiny. The admissions process still includes information about high school disciplinary infractions. From the News-Gazette last week:

Admissions applications to the University of Illinois this year are missing a box: the one that asks about a student’s criminal history.

The UI System has taken those questions off the initial application for undergraduate enrollment but will ask students about criminal background once they have been accepted.

It’s a response to the “ban the box” movement that calls for eliminating criminal history questions from job applications or college admissions. Advocates say they can discourage even people with minor offenses from applying.

Last year, a student-led coalition called “Yes Apply Illinois” urged UI trustees to drop questions about criminal and disciplinary history from admissions applications altogether.

More at the full article here. The article explains the nationwide movement for these kind of changes and the State level legal changes that have been pursued in employment and education. WILL had additional coverage that got into some of the nitty gritty of the new policy this week as well:

“It would be inaccurate to say that we’ve gotten rid of the questions,” [Barbara Wilson, vice-president of academic affairs for the University of Illinois system] said. “We’ve really moved them and they’re no longer part of the front end of the application process. But they are still asked of all provisionally admitted students.”

Once a student is provisionally admitted to the university, they still need to submit information like their final transcript to ensure their spot. Now students must also submit whether they have any pending or prior convictions. If they do, Wilson said a committee that does not include admissions personnel will review the student’s record to assess whether they pose a threat to campus safety. If the committee decides the student poses minimal risk, Wilson said the admissions process continues.

“If there is a concern about the risk, then the student will be notified. We may provide things like an online degree or other kinds of options that the student might have to pursue a degree,” Wilson said. The university policy also provides for an appeal process if conditional admission is rescinded due to a student’s criminal history. Wilson also noted that university officials estimate only about 1% of applicants who check the box will actually have their admission rescinded as a result. In 2017, 240 applicants to the University of Illinois’ three campuses indicated they had a criminal record; 82 were admitted and 11 were rejected due to their criminal histories, according to university data.

More at that full article here. WILL's 21st show also covered the topic with interviews available in a segment here. Description excerpt:

Prospective undergraduate students will not be asked about their criminal histories until after they’ve been admitted. Students applying for the fall 2020 semester will have already seen this change on their application. Lee Gaines, is an education reporter at Illinois Public Media and Illinois Newsroom she has been reporting on this over the past year. She joined us to give the latest updates to this policy. Chris Miner is pursuing a masters degree in social work at the University of Illinois he also joined us.

Full episode page here and this specific segment available here.