'U' to no longer ask about misdemeanor charges on applications
The University of Michigan will no longer require applicants to mark a box asking whether they have a misdemeanor charge filed against them, according to University spokesperson Rick Fitzgerald.
"The university continues to require that applicants disclose certain felony charges," Fitzgerald wrote in an email. "Changes made for this year include updating application questions to remove misdemeanor infractions from consideration and limiting felony charges and juvenile criminal infractions to only those involving violent or assaultive behavior, weapon possession, property destruction or sexually related offenses."
According to Fitzgerald, the University began asking applicants about “criminal or conduct issues” in 1999. He said while criminal background is one factor in a student’s application, the holistic application process makes it so that a student is not immediately disqualified from admission if they check the box saying they have a criminal history.
“In fact, crime and conduct responses are not viewable by the initial application reviews so evaluators will not have access to the responses as they assess the candidate for admission,” Fitzgerald said. “It’s only once an application is evaluated and receives a competitive admissions rating for consideration that the crime and conduct are reviewed by separate admissions team members who did not complete the initial application review.”
Read the full article as it originally appeared in The Michigan Daily.