SUNY System to 'Ban the Box' from Student Applications

The State University of New York will no longer ask student applicants if they’ve been convicted of a felony.

The Board of Trustees voted Wednesday to “ban the box” from its general application.

Students will instead be asked to declare a prior felony conviction after they’ve been admitted and only when they seek campus housing or participation in clinical of field experiences, internships or study-abroad programs, according to a press release on the SUNY website.

The SUNY Student Assembly passed a resolution recommendation the post-admissions declaration.

SUNY Board Chairman H. Carl McCall said the educational system seeks to provide all New Yorkers with quality public higher education, including those who have been through the justice system.

“I am confident that we have found precisely the right balance of inquiry to uphold our commitments to college access and student safety,” he said.

The State University of New York has 64 college and university campuses in the state, and served 1.3 million students in 2014-15.

Photo caption: SUNY New Paltz. Photo credit: Google Maps.