Background Checks Rutgers University

Working at Rutgers University

Located in New Brunswick, New Jersey, Rutgers University (or Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey) is a public research university with a history extending more than 250 years. The institution was founded in 1766 as Queen’s College. It changed its name to Rutgers College in 1825 and officially became a university in the 1950s. Today, the university is the largest higher education institution in New Jersey and is part of the Big 10.

Rutgers has three campuses throughout New Jersey, with more than 9,000 faculty members and 65,000 undergraduate and graduate students. If you are seeking a job with Rutgers or thinking about attending the university, you may wonder about the school’s staff background checks and how the institution has responded to COVID-19—let’s explore.

Background Checks at Rutgers University

All positions at Rutgers University require, at minimum, a criminal background check, a Social Security Number verification, and a sex offender database check. The university notes that additional screening requirements “will be determined based on the position.” Such requirements may include other hallmarks of academia background checks, such as verification of education, employment history, or professional licensed and certifications.

The background checks at Rutgers are conducted by the University Human Resources (UHR) department, which takes over once individual departments have moved candidates through the hiring workflow and identified them as finalists. Only once a candidate has been flagged as a finalist will UHR commence the background check investigation.

At this point in the hiring process, UHR has full control over hiring decisions. If UHR finds something on a background check that it deems unacceptable, the department can render a candidate ineligible for hire, regardless of the wishes of the associated university department.

Rutgers adopted a new background check policy in 2018, which officially made background checks a requirement for all non-student staff and faculty positions. Previously, only specific jobs with the university required background checks. The adoption of a broader academia background checks policy was part of the university’s “ongoing efforts to maintain and promote a safe learning and work environment for students, faculty, staff, and guests, and to ensure that our academic and research missions are supported by qualified candidates.”

Rutgers University and COVID-19

Similarly to all other institutions in higher education, Rutgers University is currently in the process of planning a return-to-school strategy for the fall of 2020. While many significant universities have pledged to return to predominantly in-person learning this autumn, Rutgers is taking a more conservative approach during COVID-19.

The university announced in early July that its plan for the fall 2020 semester would consist of “a majority of remotely delivered courses with a limited number of in-person classes.” Students will be notified later regarding which courses and programs will feature or require in-person instruction. Rutgers has not yet made any decisions on how it will handle its winter or spring semesters.