How to Identify a Student's Background Check

A background report will determine whether a student has a clean criminal past.

Some schools or institutions require students to have a background check before registering or starting their chosen field of study. According to UT System, the background check is a criminal background check that is often used in the fields of psychology, policing, nursing, education, pharmacy and some technology degrees. After a background check is complete, it will be formatted as a report or a document in a folder for future reference. If there is no title indicating that the report is a background check, other indicators may identify it as one.

Instructions

1. Locate the title page of the report or folder containing the document you want identified. See if the title or words indicate a background check of any type, whether medical or criminal.

2. Read the first section of the report to identify if it is a background check of a student. The first section of the report will outline a list of approved companies selected to conduct the background checks.

3. Locate the purpose of the report to determine whether it is a criminal background check report. The report will mention whether the results will be distributed and analyzed by the state and the FBI.

4. Read the list of scholarly degrees at the given University or institution that requires students to provide a background check. These often include law, pharmacy, nursing, psychology and other degrees that directly require working with individuals and health.

5. Locate the section of the report that describes the reasons for the background check, such as admission requirements, partial admission or approval for field experience, for example.

6. Read through the scope of the background check. It will include the dates of the background check and a description of what the background check includes. For example, criminal history, criminal records, felonies, Social Security Number verification, violent sexual offenders and predators registries and applicable state exclusion list are all valid reasons for performing a background check on a student.

7. Browse through the student's background information based on the performed check, if applicable. If the student's name is clear and has no criminal activity, the report will be filed as proof that the student has had a background check.

8. Locate the list of rights that the student has to identify the report as a background check. The rights include reviewing the background check and requesting the information be checked for accuracy. If any of the above sections are missing in the report or if the report makes no mention of background checks, has no list of degrees nor provide a clear scope of the report, then you are most likely not dealing with a student's background check documentation.

References

• UT Systems: Student Background Check Model Policy
• University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey: Criminal Background Checks
• Idaho State University: Criminal Background Checks