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[somebassoonthing]

I have checked into many of the different discussion threads and apologize if this is covered elsewhere, but I'll go into our particular situation.  I am tenured at a public regional comprehensive university as of two years ago.  My partner completed his Master of Library Science and has been working at a library two hours away.  He applied for a job and my university 1 year ago right after completing the MLS, but did not receive the position.  He had very little experience and the job really wasn't up his alley.  A job has recently opened - he now has experience in not only every required area but also the preferred areas.  For that first job, I did email the dean of libraries to "put in a good word", which was warmly received but didn't result in his hiring - probably because he lacked experience at the time.

I am struggling with whether I should try to put the word out about his being my SO and if so, how.  It has been my experience on search committees that some faculty are very open to hiring spouses of those who are currently employed on campus and some are almost resentful when they hear that there is even a connection to another campus employee (except that they are sometimes want their partners/spouses hired on campus too).  I looked at the "heterosexual privilege" thread - it is always a concern that someone on the search committee might actually discount a qualified applicant just because of being gay - regardless of the clear nondiscrimination policy.

Is there an appropriate way to go about this?  The position closing date is about 5 weeks away - it is of course difficult to just wait on it, but I suppose that I would have a bit of time to contact people.   I see others throwing their weight around and sometimes getting what they want, but it is certainly not always effective and some people seem to have more pull than others.  Do I need to sit tight, or is there something I can do? Other than the university, there are not many acceptable library positions in this area unless one travels at least 1 hour.  The weekend and break thing is getting old.

[larryc]

This is a campus culture thing--does you university in general try to accommodate spousal hires? You need to know the lay of the administrative land where you are. Could you have a frank meeting with your chair or a trusted senior colleague?

[bigsky]

I second larryc's comments and would add that in discussing things with your chair and/or senior colleagues you will have to convey that you will seriously need to think about applying for other positions unless there are clear possibilities for your spouse. Not as a threat, simply the reality that you are tiring of the situation.

I tend to be optomistic about things in general and would like to believe that my chair/administration would be interested in my happiness, and subsequent productivity. Of course, I think there is a diffference between library and TT positions. However, given my ignorance of how our staffing works I could be way off.