Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) does not ask for criminal history information on its application for admission.
Undergraduate Students
Please note, certain criminal conduct may prohibit you from obtaining campus housing. If you apply for university housing, questions about specific conduct will be asked and the resulting information used in determining your eligibility because of applicable statutes, regulations, and university policies. Applicants who are currently incarcerated are not eligible for state financial aid. If you have any questions, you should contact the admissions office, admissions-inquiry@iup.edu and/or 724-357-2230.
Additionally, some criminal and non-criminal conduct may render you ineligible for professional licensure, and/or prohibit you from becoming employed in certain professional fields. The tables below provide an explanation and contact information for undergraduate majors that fall into this category.
All Colleges
| Department | Major | Coordinator/Chairperson | Implications of Felony Record |
|---|---|---|---|
| Educator Preparation Program (across Colleges) | Educator Preparation Program | Nicole Dunmire ndunmire@iup.edu |
A criminal history may preclude specific coursework, practicum/internship opportunities, and/or professional certification. |
College of Arts and Humanities
| Department | Major | Coordinator/Chairperson | Implications of Felony Record |
|---|---|---|---|
| Education | Art/Art Education | Marissa Sweeney mcclure@iup.edu |
Requires Clearances and Certification |
| Education | Music/Music Education | Laura Ferguson lfergusn@iup.edu |
Requires Clearances and Certification |
Eberly College of Business
| Department | Major | Coordinator/Chairperson | Implications of Felony Record |
|---|---|---|---|
| Management | Hospitality Management | Stephen Shiring Stephen.Shiring@iup.edu |
Employment with "Gaming Licensure" may be affected. |
College of Education and Communications
| Department | Major | Coordinator/Chairperson | Implications of Felony Record |
|---|---|---|---|
| Communication Disorders, Special Education, and Disability Services | Disability Services, BS | Annah Hill a.l.hill@iup.edu |
A criminal history may preclude specific coursework, practicum/internship opportunities, and/or professional certification. |
| Communication Disorders, Special Education, and Disability Services | Special Education PreK-12, BSEd | Joann Migyanka migyanka@iup.edu |
A criminal history may preclude specific coursework, practicum/internship opportunities, and/or professional certification. |
| Communication Disorders, Special Education, and Disability Services | Speech Language Pathology and Audiology, BS | Lisa Price lisa.price@iup.edu |
A criminal history may preclude clinical practicum opportunities and/or professional certification and licensure. |
| Professional Studies in Education | Business Education, BSEd | DeAnna Laverick laverick@iup.edu |
A criminal history may preclude specific coursework, practicum/internship opportunities, and/or professional certification. |
| Professional Studies in Education | Early Childhood Education, BSEd | DeAnna Laverick laverick@iup.edu |
A criminal history may preclude specific coursework, practicum/internship opportunities, and/or professional certification. |
| Professional Studies in Education | Early Childhood Special Education, BSEd | DeAnna Laverick laverick@iup.edu |
A criminal history may preclude specific coursework, practicum/internship opportunities, and/or professional certification. |
| Professional Studies in Education | Family and Consumer Sciences Education, BSEd | DeAnna Laverick laverick@iup.edu |
A criminal history may preclude specific coursework, practicum/internship opportunities, and/or professional certification. |
| Professional Studies in Education | Family Consumer Sciences Education | Kalani Palmer Kalani.Palmer@iup.edu |
Dependent upon offences; not all offences will exclude students from field placement. For a felony conviction, a prospective employee is eligible for a position in a school only after ten years have elapsed from the date of expiration of the sentence for the offense. For misdemeanors of the first degree, the period for eligibility is five years. For a DUI offense other than a first-degree misdemeanor, eligibility is three years. |
| Professional Studies in Education | Human Development and Family Science, BS | DeAnna Laverick laverick@iup.edu |
A criminal history may preclude specific coursework, practicum/internship opportunities, and/or professional certification. |
| Professional Studies in Education | Human Development Family Sciences | Sarah Brown Sarah.Brown@iup.edu |
Dependent upon offences; not all offences will exclude students from field placement. |
College of Health and Human Services
| Department | Major | Coordinator/Chairperson | Implications of Felony Record |
|---|---|---|---|
| Criminology and Criminal Justice | Criminology | John Lewis mfyj@iup.edu |
Having a criminal record will directly impact the student's job search. Employment in law enforcement, policing, corrections, probation/parole, or investigator for commonwealth agencies is highly unlikely/impossible. |
| Food and Nutrition | Food and Nutrition | Jodie Seybold J.Seybold@iup.edu |
A misdemeanor or felony charge or conviction may affect a student’s ability to apply for dietetic internships or experiential learning programs as well as complete the clinical, school food service, and some community components in supervised practice as these facilities require a criminal background check, an Act 33/34 clearance, and a drug screen. Additionally, conviction of a misdemeanor, felony or felonious or illegal act may prevent the student from becoming credentialed and/or licensed to practice in the field. |
| Kinesiology Health and Sport Sciences | Kinesiology - Exercise Science | Kristi Storti Kristi.Storti@iup.edu |
Placement or employment will likely not happen at certain hospitals and/or community centers |
| Kinesiology Health and Sport Sciences | Kinesiology - HPED K-12 Teacher Education | David Wachob d.wachob@iup.edu |
Students should find another major. For a felony conviction, a prospective employee is eligible for a position in a school only after ten years have elapsed from the date of expiration of the sentence for the offense. For misdemeanors of the first degree, the period for eligibility is five years. For a DUI offense other than a first-degree misdemeanor, eligibility is three years. |
| Kinesiology Health and Sport Sciences | Kinesiology - Pre - Athletic Training | Jim Racchini J.J.Racchini@iup.edu |
No impact, no clinical portion, but students should be made aware issues that could arise in master’s program |
| Kinesiology Health and Sport Sciences | Kinesiology - Sport Administration | Joshua Castle J.L.Castle@iup.edu |
Placement or employment will likely not happen at high schools, hospitals and/or community centers |
| Nursing and Allied | Nursing and Allied Health Professions | Theresa Gropelli Theresa.Gropelli@iup.edu |
A misdemeanor or felony charge or conviction may affect a student’s ability to complete the clinical component. Clinical facilities may require a criminal background check, an Act 33/34 clearance, and a drug screen to determine whether you are qualified to participate in clinical education. Additionally, conviction of a misdemeanor, felony or felonious or illegal act may prevent the student from becoming credentialed and/or licensed to practice in the field. |
Kopchick College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics
| Department | Major | Coordinator/Chairperson | Implications of Felony Record |
|---|---|---|---|
| All Departments | NSM/Secondary Science Education Certificate | all departments | Certification to teach requires criminal background check |
| ATOM | Chemistry Pre-Med | Kondo akondo@iup.edu |
Some states have restrictions based on type of felony for licensing |
| ATOM | Chemistry Pre-pharmacy | Kondo akondo@iup.edu |
Some states have restrictions based on type of felony for licensing |
| Biology | BIOL/pre-med | Bharathan bharathn@iup.edu |
Some states have restrictions based on type of felony for licensing |
| Mathematical and Computer Sciences | MACS / Math Education | Francisco Alarcon falarcon@iup.edu |
certification to teach requires criminal background check |
| Natural Sciences | All Pre-Professional Programs | Burkett dburkett@iup.edu |
Some states have restrictions based on type of felony for licensing |
| Sciences | Safety Sciences | Tracey Cekada Tracey.Cekada@iup.edu |
Certain employment opportunities require clearances and/or background checks; however, this will not affect them across the entire profession. |
College of Health and Human Services
| Department | Major | Coordinator/Chairperson | Implications of Felony Record |
|---|---|---|---|
| Criminology and Criminal Justice | Criminal Justice Training Center | Dennis Marsili D.L.Marsili@iup.edu |
Students will not be accepted into the program upon application to the ACT 120 Police Academy; MPOETC regulation via initial background check. |
| Institute for Rural Health Services | Paramedic/EMT | Louis Pesci Louis.Pesci@iup.edu |
The National Registry may deny an applicant eligibility to sit for a certification examination, deny certification, suspend or revoke an individual’s certification, or take other appropriate action with respect to the applicant’s certification or recertification based on an applicant’s felony criminal convictions and all other criminal convictions (whether felony or misdemeanor) relating to crimes involving physical assault, use of a dangerous weapon, sexual abuse or assault, abuse of children, the elderly or infirm and crimes against property, including robbery, burglary and felony theft. |
Graduate Students
Certain criminal and non-criminal conduct may render you ineligible for professional licensure, and/or prohibit you from becoming employed in certain professional fields, and/or prohibit you from eligibility for a Graduate Assistantship and/or internship. If you have any questions, you should contact the Graduate Coordinator for your program of interest. Their contact information is located below.
Please note, that certain criminal conduct may also prohibit you from obtaining campus housing. If you apply for university housing, questions about specific conduct will be asked and the resulting information used in determining your eligibility in compliance with applicable statutes, regulations, and university policies. Questions regarding on-campus housing can be directed to iup-housing@iup.edu. Applicants who are currently incarcerated are not eligible for state financial aid.
College of Education and Communications
| Department | Major | Coordinator/Chairperson | Implications of Felony Record |
|---|---|---|---|
| Department of Counseling | Clinical Mental Health Counseling (MA) | Brittany Pollard-Kosidowski bpollard@iup.edu |
A felony conviction typically will not impact students’ ability to complete the degree but may impact their ability to become licensed as a Licensed Professional Counselor following graduation. More specific information is available here. |
| Department of Counseling | School Counseling (M.Ed.) | Brittany Pollard-Kosidowski bpollard@iup.edu |
A felony conviction may impact a student’s ability to complete this degree and/or to become certified as a professional school counselor due to the multiple clearances required to work in any PK-12 school setting. For the degree, students are required to complete two practicum experiences and one field experience in public school settings. More specific information is available here. |
| Professional Studies in Education | Literacy and/or Reading Specialist Certification (M.Ed.) | Julie Ankrum jankrum@iup.edu |
A criminal history may preclude specific coursework, practicum/internship opportunities, and/or professional certification. |
| Professional Studies in Education | Curriculum and Instruction (DEd) | Kelli Jo Kerry-Moran kjkmoran@iup.edu |
A felony conviction typically will not impact one's ability to complete the degree but may impact their ability to earn the optional advanced certificate in Curriculum Supervision through Pennsylvania Department of Education. |
| Center for Career and Technical Personnel Preparation | Career and Technical Administration (M.Ed.) | Paula Andrei pandrei@iup.edu |
A criminal history may preclude specific coursework, practicum/internship opportunities, and/or professional certification. |
| Communication Disorders, Special Education, and Disability Services | Speech-Language Pathology (MS) | Lori Lombard llombard@iup.edu |
The program’s clinical placements and certification may require clearances with no criminal history. |
College of Health and Human Services
| Department | Major | Coordinator/Chairperson | Implications of Felony Record |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sociology | Sociology (MA) | Hilario Molina hmolina@iup.edu |
A felony conviction will not impact their ability to apply to the program or complete it. However, it may impact eligibility for internships and jobs after graduation based on the employers’ policies. |
| Hospitality and Employment Relations | Human Resources and Employment Relations (MA) | David Piper David.Piper@iup.edu |
Certain employment opportunities require clearances; however, this will not affect them across the entire profession. |
| Kinesiology Health and Sport Sciences | Kinesiology-Athletic Training (MS) | Jim Racchini J.J.Racchini@iup.edu |
Background checks are required, flagged felony. The Board of Certification for Athletic Training reviews convictions and makes the ultimate decision. Convictions could affect their ability to obtain state licensure. |
| Kinesiology Health and Sport Sciences | Health and Physical Education (M.Ed.) | David Wachob dzxk@iup.edu |
A criminal history may preclude specific coursework, practicum/internship opportunities, and/or professional certification. |
| Department of Psychology | School Psychology (Ed.S) | Lynanne Black lblack@iup.edu |
A criminal history may preclude specific coursework, practicum/internship opportunities, and/or professional certification. |
| Department of Psychology | School Psychology (PhD) | Courtney McLaughlin cmc@iup.edu |
The School Psychology PhD Program has practicum and internship courses which require students to work with children on campus and off campus. These are courses required to earn the degree. In addition, the program leads to preparing students to apply for a PDE certification in School Psychology, which also requires a clear background check. |
Kopchick College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics
| Department | Major | Coordinator/Chairperson | Implications of Felony Record |
|---|---|---|---|
| Department of Safety Sciences and Environmental Engineering | Safety Sciences, (MS) | Wanda Minnick minnickw@iup.edu |
A felony conviction could impact obtaining common certifications in the safety and health field, such as being designated a Certified Safety Professional (CSP). For the CSP, if a person has a felony conviction, the Board of Certified Safety Professionals reviews the case and determines if the person is or is not a suitable candidate. Also, a person cannot hold their CSP certification while they are incarcerated for a felony. Similar conditions apply to being designated a Certified Industrial Hygienist (CIH). |
| Department of Safety Sciences and Environmental Engineering | Safety Sciences, (PhD) | Jan Wachter tblp@iup.edu |
A felony conviction could impact obtaining common certifications in the safety and health field, such as being designated a Certified Safety Professional (CSP). For the CSP, if a person has a felony conviction, the Board of Certified Safety Professionals reviews the case and determines if the person is or is not a suitable candidate. Also, a person cannot hold their CSP certification while they are incarcerated for a felony. Similar conditions apply to being designated a Certified Industrial Hygienist (CIH). |