I'm not sure if everyone is aware, but there is also what is called a shared position. Basically, the school hires the married pair and they "share" the opening. They each share teach responsibilities (and the salary) and both must make tenure or neither does. It is virtually impossible to "know" which spousal hires are in this arrangement and which are not from the outside. THis is often a win-win for the everyone involved.
If a school "wants" the candidate and it is an isolated position, they will frequently...as part of the contract....hire both candidates separately. However, one caviate is the continued employment of the second party is contingent on the further employment of the candidate. Sometimes the spouse is hired as contingent faculty, other times just as another faculty member. Sometimes even as an administrator or staff member. Other times a school will talk to other schools/agencies/businesses in the area to get a spouse a job. WHo knows what happens behind closed doors. Is any of this "fair?" Life isn't fair. Some of us lose our jobs after stellar performance. Some don't get jobs despite stellar credentials, others get hired and promoted despite a lackluster and even pathetic showing. All of us, regardless if you feel slighted by a previous employer, skipped over by a prospective employer, or even just getting tired of the process need to take a step backwards and consider what we are doing to ourselves and others when dwelling on these issues. (I'm not saying to ignore them, rather learn from them and figure out how you can use them to your advantage). If we we spend our lives dwelling on all the unfair and even illegal things that happen to us, we will spend our lives bitter and unhappy. In the end, the people who slighted any one of us may or may not "get theirs." But worrying about that is not productive. Further who cares if they "get theirs!" What we need to be concerned with is making sure we get what we want and deserve. Unfortunately, it is sometimes very difficult not to appear bitter. This can clearly overshadow your real personality or the potential/performance you display. Anger, jealousy, suspicion, envy, and sometimes even a deep desire for others to get the justice they may indeed deserve, are negative feelings/emotions that do more damage to ourselves than to anyone else. This also doesn't exactly make us look like pleasant people to work with when our applications are reviewed either!!! We all need to keep our chin up during our time in this crazy world. Malcolm On Sat, Aug 20, 2011 at 6:07 AM, Kim van der Linde <[email protected]> wrote: > On 8/19/2011 11:07 PM, Aaron T. Dossey wrote: >> >> Was it about unethical hiring practices like spousal hirings, >> nepotism, etc.? These are RAMPANT in Academia. > > I have no serious problem with spousal fires, because it means that the hire > committee/dean/chair/.... has basically concluded that hiring the two of > them is the best choice for the university, even if the spouse is maybe not > of the same level of what they otherwise could get. Sometimes, like I have > seen here where I work, the money for the hire would not have been freed at > all, and the spousal hire effectively resulted in a extra hire. Offering > spousal hires often is part of the hiring negotiations because split > families means that your candidate is at far larger risk to keep looking for > a job elsewhere after you hire them so s/he can be with his partner again. > > It is easy to rail against spousal hires if you are single, or have a > partner who has a career that is portable so you can just go where you want > to go, or when you don't care to live at the other side of the country. It > is a different story of you have a family and like to be with you family. > And universities understand the two-body problem and spousal hires are just > one way to ensure you can hire the best candidates. > > Kim > -- Malcolm L. McCallum Oceania University of Medicine Managing Editor, Herpetological Conservation and Biology "Peer pressure is designed to contain anyone with a sense of drive" - Allan Nation 1880's: "There's lots of good fish in the sea" W.S. Gilbert 1990's: Many fish stocks depleted due to overfishing, habitat loss, and pollution. 2000: Marine reserves, ecosystem restoration, and pollution reduction MAY help restore populations. 2022: Soylent Green is People! The Seven Blunders of the World (Mohandas Gandhi) Wealth w/o work Pleasure w/o conscience Knowledge w/o character Commerce w/o morality Science w/o humanity Worship w/o sacrifice Politics w/o principle Confidentiality Notice: This e-mail message, including any attachments, is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply e-mail and destroy all copies of the original message.
