US: DNA swab for your job

01 November 2009

Many colleges now require criminal background checks of all new employees. But the University of Akron - in what some experts believe is a first - is not only requiring a criminal background check, but is stating that new employees must be willing to submit a DNA sample, writes Scott Jaschik for Inside Higher Ed.

The requirement was added quietly and is now receiving attention, and criticism, because an adjunct faculty member at Akron quit over the issue last week. The new rules at Akron were adopted by the Board of Trustees in August, but most faculty members only learned of them in a recent e-mail list of announcements sent by the university to all employees.

The rules state that background checks will be performed on all candidates selected for employment and that all offers will be "contingent on successful completion" of the check. Further, they state that all applicants "may be asked to submit a DNA sample". The rules specifically state that all employees, including faculty members, are covered.
Full report on the Inside Higher Ed site

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