Apr 04, 2008 - 04:05:01 CDT
BOTTINEAU (AP) - The three finalists for president of Valley City State University will not have to have an FBI fingerprint-based background check.The Board of Higher Education on Thursday rejected a recommendation to require the check. It came from a committee searching for a successor to Valley City State President Ellen Chaffee, who is retiring in June after 15 years on the job.
Presidential candidates already undergo criminal history checks based on name, birth date and Social Security number, along with credit checks, and degree and employment verifications.
Board member Sue Andrews said the search committee suggested the more stringent FBI fingerprint checks for the Valley City State candidates.
Valley City residents are especially worried about university employees in the wake of the September 2006 off-campus killing of student Mindy Morgenstern by a former campus security guard who also worked as a county jailer. School officials said after the arrest of Moe Gibbs that a background check on him came up clean when he applied for work.
An FBI background check was not conducted on Gibbs when he was hired as a Barnes County jailer. He had changed his name from Glen Dale Morgan Jr.
University system attorney Pat Seaworth said the risk that a candidate for a college or university presidency would be living under an assumed identity is small.
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