Leave hiring, firing to individual departments

A bill currently bouncing about in the Arizona House of Representatives that would immediately fire university employees convicted of various felonies is unnecessary and strips employees of their due process rights. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Gilbert, would immediately terminate all faculty convicted of murder, kidnapping, sexual exploitation of children, stalking and sexual offenses.

But if these faculty members have already been convicted of their crimes and have served their debt to society, why should the UA and Arizona's other universities punish these individuals again?

Biggs defends the bill by saying, "The particular felonies · would be the most severe felonies." He continues, "Those who have to register as sex offenders for lifetime probably ought not to be on a university campus working with our young people."

The decision of employment, however, should be left to those doing the hiring, not the state Legislature. Requiring immediate termination of employment for those already working at the UA would itself be a crime. These faculty members may have done something illegal in the past, but if they are no longer seen as a threat to the community, they should be given the same opportunity as everyone else to be hired.

Last week, the Faculty Senate and President Peter Likins voiced opposition to the bill, saying the bill would "interfere with our employment practices."

Not only would it become cumbersome to the UA's hiring practices; it could severely impact affected faculty whose crime may have occurred decades ago. They would immediately lose tenure and benefits, not to mention their employment. Employees, and potential employees, shouldn't have to check their due process rights at the door.

Since the UA does not currently penalize for past felony convictions, the affected faculty members are already teaching and working all over campus. There haven't been any problems yet, and chances are nobody even knows who they are. They may, in fact, be some of the best employees the UA has to offer. At a time when brain drain and faculty retention continues to significantly affect the teaching ranks, the UA should hold on to the best it can get, even if those faculty made some mistakes when they were younger.

Arizona should leave it up to department heads and those who make the hiring decisions to select the best person for the job at hand. If they feel a past felony conviction will affect employment, fine ÷ they don't have to hire them. But if a prior felon is perfectly capable of doing the job and is the best candidate, then let him or her go to work.

Opinions are determined by the Wildcat opinions board and written by one of its members. They are Shane Dale, Caitlin Hall, Saul Loeb, Jason Poreda, Justin St. Germain and Eliza Tebo.