The way Ball State University reviews felons who apply foradmittance is about to change.
The change is being made in light of recent articles in severalpublications where the mother of a felon, Richard Dobeski, said herson was considering attending Ball State. Dobeski, who is fromMichigan City, was recently released after serving 40 years aftermurdering two neighbor children when he was 16 years old.
"It seems to me and others I work closely with, more appropriateto have a committee that's a little more broadly representativethan just the four of us who are on the professional staff in theDean of Students office," associate vice president of studentservices Randy Hyman said. "I think this case, and the attentiongiven to this case, has certainly had an effect on us as we thinkabout how we have dealt with these kinds of situations in thepast."
When the felon box is checked on the admissions application, itis forwarded to the Dean of Students by the Office of Admissions.The application is then reviewed by Hyman, David Fried, associatedean of students, Brian Farber, assistant dean of students, andKatie Slabaugh, assistant dean of students.
Hyman said the four usually request additional information fromthe applicant, such as court records and backgroundinformation.
The information is reviewed by the staff and an appropriaterecommendation is made back to Admissions as to whether the felonshould be admitted, Hyman said.
Currently there is not a written policy for admitting felons,and each case is reviewed on an individual basis, Hyman said.
Hyman sent out an e-mail Tuesday to his office, the Office ofthe Dean of Students, the Office of Admissions, the School ofExtended Education and the Department of Public Safety invitingthem to talk about their mission and change to the group. Hymansaid he would then recap in writing the mission and function of thecommittee. Hyman also said it might be appropriate to have afaculty member from the Department of Criminal Justice andCriminology.
"My intention is to communicate with a small number of peoplerepresenting a variety of key offices and invite them to considerserving on a committee that we haven't named yet," Hyman said. "Butit would be a special purpose committee that would review thesekinds of applications from here on out."
The committee will consist of five to six people who willevaluate and research to answer questions concerning the felon.Some of the questions include the reason for the conviction, howmuch time spent in prison, the circumstances surrounding theincident and how much, if any, psychological evaluation wasconducted.
"As we evolved in our thinking in the past couple of years, itbecomes clear to us and perhaps the situation with Dobeskiheightened our sensitivity to the need for probably a more eclecticgroup," Hyman said.
Hyman said the cases that would be treated most sensitivelywould be those crimes where people committed a felony crime whereanother person was harmed.
"People could be convicted of a felony that does not suggest inany way that they present a risk to the health and safety of anyindividual on the campus," Hyman said.
There are about eight to 10 felons admitted into the universityeach year, with felonies ranging from burglary to assault to drugsto murder, Hyman said. Not all applicants are admitted, but he wasunsure about the number turned down.
"They certainly have to be careful they don't get their personalbias in there," chairperson of the department of criminal justiceand criminology James Hendricks said. Hendricks received the e-mailinvitation about the potential meeting from Hyman.
Hendricks questioned the timing of the change since it was inclose proximity to the article about Dobeski.
"That's not a problem, that's a person who's getting out ofprison who may or may not come to Ball State," Hendricks said.
The first question Hendricks said he planned to ask at theunscheduled meeting was, "What's the problem?"
"If it ain't broke, don't fix it," Hendricks said.
Felons have to register with the city and then the city notifiesBall State, director of public safety Gene Burton said.
Burton said there are two different opinions on how a felonshould be treated.
He said some might say, "Ok, he did commit a crime, but he'sbeen punished. He's served his debt to society. That's why he'sbeen let out of prison since supposedly the slate is supposed to beswept clean at that point. So do his rights as a citizen who's paidhis debt to society outweigh the perceived rights of the public tofeel like they are safe? I don't know."
Hyman said teachers and students are not informed of felons intheir classroom but said it could be a topic discussed with thenewly formed committee.
Senior Chris Jones, a K-12 major, said as a teacher, he wouldwant to know if one of his students was a felon.
"I think it's important to know where all students are comingfrom, felons or not," Jones said.
Jones also said it was not the business of the classmates toknow as much as the teacher.
"I would like to know because of the whole 'what if?" hesaid.
Systems coordinator in the Career Center, Dave Hatton, said as afaculty member he would want to know if someone he was working withwas a felon.
"I think it kind of depends on the crime," Hatton said. "I thinkif it were murder I would want to know."
Others said it would be unfair to tell students that theirclassmate was a felon.
"I think if they're in school, they've spent their time,"freshman Amanda Wolfsiffer said. "I don't think that's fair to thestudent or to the university as a whole (to inform them of afelon)."
On the flip side, some feel less protected knowing a felon is inthe same room with them.
"Everybody should be made aware of it for their protection,"sophomore Kelly Thompson said.
Hendricks said if the university decided to inform teachers,they would have to inform students as well.
"If we're running around telling teachers that we have felons inthe class, shouldn't we also run around and tell students that wehave a felon teaching them?" Hendricks said.
Dean emeritus of students Donald Mikesell worked closely withthe Office of Admissions during his 40 years at the university indetermining if felons would be admitted.
He couldn't remember turning down an application from afelon.
"Why would you say no (to admitting a felon)?" Mikesell said."It's all part of putting their lives on a different track."
The procedure prior to the past three years also didn't have anywritten procedure and was treated on a case by case basis.
Mikesell said he would personally interview all of theapplicants to get to know the person. Hyman said there are nointerviews conducted with potential students convicted of afelony.
Hyman said the process of researching other universities'policies on this issue has started.
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