Administrator-Faculty Spousal Hiring


A reader who prefers to remain anonymous writes in with question:

My spouse is a finance professional interviewing to work for a university endowment.  While there is plenty of information out there about faculty-faculty spousal hires, I haven’t been able to find anything about admin-faculty hires.  That is, if my spouse is offered the position, would a spousal hire for me (a philosopher) be out of the question?  Do universities do this sort of thing?  If so, does anyone have advice on how to raise the issue?

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Ross McKinney
Ross McKinney
8 years ago

I suspect the answer depends on the institution, but administrators typically come and go and faculty expect tenure. The levels of commitment are discrepant, and most schools won’t want to commit to tenured employment of the person they’re not recruiting. However, schools have varied cultures (and budgets). I don’t know the people involved, but if the philosopher was strong enough to qualify for a tenure track position, it might be more likely. It also might be more likely if the endowment manager was being hired to handle a large enough portfolio that they’re in the top few percent of endowment officers.

sydm
sydm
8 years ago

Many factors at play. Some schools are more amenable to spousal accommodations because their undesirable location makes it harder to recruit good people. My U is a case in point. There are a lot of spousal hires of trailing spouses, into both faculty and admin positions. But the spousal hire is not usually to a TT position — more likely instructor or lecturer. If the finances work out, that might still be a favorable deal for some couples.

Anon
Anon
8 years ago

What would be the justification for this kind of thing? Does the ‘two body problem really arise in this context?