Felony Questionnaire
State University of New York (SUNY) policy prohibits SUNY Plattsburgh’s admission applications from inquiring into an applicant’s prior criminal history. After acceptance, the college shall inquire if the student previously has been convicted of a felony if a student seeks certain “covered activities,” including:
- campus housing;
- participation in clinical, field experiences, or internships; or
- study abroad programs.
“Clinical or Field experience” means experiences that include hands-on application of academic theories occurring in an off-campus setting. These experiences are either required as part of an academic program or otherwise sponsored by the campus and are commonly occurring in medical, social work, teacher education and research programs.
“Internship” means applied learning experiences for which a student may earn academic credit in an agreed-upon, short-term, supervised workplace activity, which may be related to a student's major field or area of interest. The work can be full or part time, on or off campus, paid or unpaid. Internships integrate classroom knowledge and theory with practical application and skills developed in professional or community settings.
A student who discloses a prior felony conviction is not automatically barred from these covered activities. However, the student must submit information regarding such prior felony conviction to a campus committee so that it can evaluate the relevance of the conviction to the covered activity sought by the student using the standards articulated in the NYS Corrections Law.
Students who are enrolled in a major that requires clinical, field experiences, or an internship will be asked about possible felony convictions when they first enroll in the major. Students who are in one of these majors but have not yet completed the Felony Questionnaire will receive an FELQ HOLD prompt. This will not prevent them from registering in courses that do not have a covered activity.
Students who seek enrollment in an optional course that includes a clinical, field experience, or internship will receive a “pre-requisite not met” error if the Felony Questionnaire has not been completed. Students who do not complete the questionnaire prior to the start of the course will be removed from the course.
If you have any questions about the Felony Questionnaire, please contact JoAnn Gleeson-Kreig, Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs at [email protected], or by phone at 518-564-2195.
The Felony Questionnaire may be viewed or completed by students who will be participating in 1) campus housing; 2) clinical, field experiences, or internships; or, 3) study abroad by going to the “Student” tab of the MyPlattsburgh portal, under the “Registrar” heading: Felony Questionnaire