Bismarck Tribune - North Dakota News - Woman upset at VCSU over not doing background checks

Woman upset at VCSU over not doing background checks

Apr 21, 2008 - 04:05:08 CDT

VALLEY CITY (AP) - The mother of a slain college student's boyfriend says state higher education officials disregarded a community's worries when they opted to forego FBI background checks on Valley City State University president candidates.

Bonnie Ranum, whose son dated Mindy Morgenstern, who was killed in September 2006, said president candidates should not be exempt from the fingerprint-based checks.

The state Board of Higher Education earlier this month rejected a recommendation to require the FBI check for the finalists to replace retiring Valley City State President Ellen Chaffee. Officials said 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.

University system attorney Pat Seaworth also said that the risk is small that a candidate for a college or university presidency would have a dangerous background.

Morgenstern was killed by Moe Gibbs, who had worked as a campus security guard and Barnes County jailer.

School officials said after Gibbs was arrested 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 jailer. Officials discovered later that he had changed his name from Glen Dale Morgan Jr.

"If a Mr. Gibbs can slip through, anybody can slip through at any level," Ranum said. "I don't think people at other levels should be exempt."

Larry Robinson, a member of the presidential search committee and a state legislator, said he also was disappointed the Higher Education board rejected the committee's request to do FBI checks.

"When you start going down that road of making exceptions, where do you stop?" he said.

The Board of Higher Education is to interview VCSU president finalists Blake Faulkner and Steven Shirley today and then make a decision on the next president.

Seaworth said the board has conducted more thorough background checks on Faulkner and Shirley than were conducted for Gibbs.

A private firm checked for criminal history in all 50 states going back 15 years. The firm also verified the finalists' degrees and employment history and did a credit history check, Seaworth said.

Most higher education systems check criminal history only in states where finalists lived or worked and only check seven to 10 years, he said.

"We have done a thorough, complete background investigation for these candidates," he said. "If we discovered anything that was concerning in those reports, we would have dug even deeper."

Faulkner is president of the online campus and system vice president for international affairs at National American University in Rapid City, S.D.

Shirley is vice president and dean for student affairs at Dakota State University in Madison, S.D.

News > State

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Comments

mary lane wrote on Apr 6, 2009 10:41 AM:

" The North Dakota Attorney Generals office will be the place to search criminal record information for your North Dakota background check. The Attorney General's website is located at http://www.ag.state.nd.us . The AG's website offers criminal record check for a $15 charge and an additional $22 if you need a fingerprint card processed through the FBI. You can go a nationwide criminal record background search http://backgroundsearch.com in a few minutes. "

Mike R wrote on Apr 22, 2008 10:43 PM:

" Background checks and fingerprint checks do NOT cost the state one red cent. Their might be a cost to private business running these checks but for a state agency, they are free - as in not costing anything to anyone. It is a service provided free of charge to government agencies. And yes, as a matter of fact, I do know this for sure. "

FormerNDResident wrote on Apr 22, 2008 11:16 AM:

" To Lutefisk: "This lady" as you so disrespectfully refer to her, saw the same huge loophole in our legal system that everyone else with eyes, ears and any common sense saw after Mindy was murdered. She put her efforts to the best use - to enhance the safety of ND citizens. Considering the bill passed, it would appear that several other agreed that the battle she was fighting was worth fighting. Thank God you're not in charge of keeping citizens safe. "

lutefisk wrote on Apr 22, 2008 1:36 AM:

" Mike R - if it doesn't cost you anything than it must be free. Background checks, credit checks, etc. cost companies huge amounts of money, but that is not the point. Most of the people won't pay the price, whether it be cost or loss of personnal freedoms, to get to the point where everyone is safe. I am all for doing what is reasonable, but running multiple layers of checks on candidates that are nothing but forthcoming for a Presidents job? This ladies efforts could be put to better use for a bigger battle. "

Mike R wrote on Apr 21, 2008 10:07 PM:

" lutefisk: You say there are no limits to what some people will pay for this false sense of security. Really, I guess I didn't know that running a set of fingerprints and a background check were all that expensive. In fact, the last time I had a set of fingerprints and background check done on someone, the total cost to the department was 0. That's right a great big goose egg. It turns out that running the fingerprints and doing the background check is something that is done as a service by law enforcement that wouldn't have cost the state or the college one red cent. Is that really to high of a price to pay? And since we are on the subject of what price would some be willing to pay - what price do you think Mindy's parents and loved ones would have been willing to pay to find out the real history of the VCSU security guard? Just wondering. "

lutefisk wrote on Apr 21, 2008 9:30 PM:

" There seems to be no limit to where some people want to take this. There has to be limits to what people are willing to pay to get this false sense of security. The effort is certainly more valuable in facilities with young children or others that are at risk of not being able to defend themselves. "

BabyT wrote on Apr 21, 2008 8:30 PM:

" our kids? Did someone forget that college students are adults and should be treated like such? They aren't in grade school anymore. How many of us who do not deal with children needed fingerprints and a full background check? ok, so i'm excluded, I needed both because of the sensitive nature of the data I handle, but in general, if you are working with adults, it usually isn't a requirement. "

Mike R wrote on Apr 21, 2008 7:49 PM:

" Sounds par for the course for Pat Seaworth. Not exactly the brightest of the bright when it comes to attornies. "

whatever wrote on Apr 21, 2008 5:43 PM:

" A title offers no guarantee of anything. The sex abuse crisis in the Catholic church, and the conviction of the BTK Killer in Kansas who was a Lutheran church council president prove that. Everyone in a position of authority should submit to background checks, regardless of their title. If they don't, they are proving that they are suspect of something. "

REX wrote on Apr 21, 2008 4:47 PM:

" Pat Seaworth comment is a great example of "victim mentality". OBVIOUSLY there was a chance that someone was dangerous. "

amused wrote on Apr 21, 2008 4:05 PM:

" I have a huge problem with this statement, "University system attorney Pat Seaworth also said that the risk is small that a candidate for a college or university presidency would have a dangerous background."
Seems to me, if you acknowledge there is ANY risk- you would just do the check!
"

FormerNDresident wrote on Apr 21, 2008 9:26 AM:

" I'm a teacher at a public high school. I have to submit my fingerprints in every state I want to teach in. I have no problem with this, nor does any other teacher I've spoken with. If fingerprint checks are going to deter candidates, perhaps we should be asking why? If you've got nothing to hide, then submit your application and your fingerprints. Why START making exceptions right after this bill is passed?

To lutefisk: You say that the university has done more than is necessary to verify the candidates. In the end, that assumption may turn out to be true. However, I bet the parents of students at VCSU assumed the same thing about campus security guards back when Mr. Gibbs was working as one on campus. And I bet the friends and family of female inmates at the Barnes County Jail assumed the same thing about its corrections officers back when Mr. Gibbs was working as one.

Just because someone is a potential "president" does not automatically mean they are trustworthy, decent people. Titles don't guarentee decency, safety, or trustworthiness.

You're right. Society can't provide 100% safety. But, the ND community put a law into place as a preventative measure. There's no point in disregarding it. "

whospaying wrote on Apr 21, 2008 9:04 AM:

" For the cost of tuition, one would assume that everything possible is being done to provide a safe educational environment for our kids. If the NDUS is unwilling to take this step, I don't believe they are doing their best to provide that environment. Give the parents and students every reason in the world to feel as if the NDUS has done all in their power to ensure a "safe" environment. Just because this person is of "presidential" stature, doesn't make him anymore trustworthy than someone hired in the maintenance department... "

~deb~ wrote on Apr 21, 2008 8:54 AM:

" Why not check everyone thoroughly? What does it hurt? And...it just might save a life! "

lutefisk wrote on Apr 21, 2008 5:48 AM:

" Sounds as if the University has done more than necessary to verify the candidates. I don't think that we should lose common sense in an attempt to make everyone 100% safe. Won't be able to do it and even if we could, I don't think the President of a University is the place to start. "

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