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[parrothead]

Two body problem here. I'm on a great TT line, and my partner is finishing his Ph.D. His subspeciality is hotter than mine, and though I'm 5 years in, we might be better of letting me follow him.

Three great jobs are open in Cal State system schools. With their notoriously difficulty financial problems, are they even in any position to make position offers -- even of full-time adjunct to a second body? One is my partner's dream job--but if I'm s.o.l., I'm not sure he should bother wasting their time if he gets an interview.

[immuno_ame]

I would seriously doubt it, but it would depend on which CSU and which departments. The disparity between the schools and focus (research/teaching) is pretty extreme in my field. The budget cuts are scary - I just heard they are going to accept 10,000 fewer students next year. Getting 1 TT job would be lucky - 2? - a small miracle. IMHO, he should still interview, b/c there are lots of opportunities/colleges in CA that are close to each other. Why restrict yourself to the same school he gets an offer at?

[canadia]

Spousal accommodation for the CSU?

I have literally heard, "There are numerous institutions of higher learning in the area. We wish your partner the best of luck."

But then I know of a couple in a prominent CSU who were able to join on the tenure track together b/c the dept. had been fighting to have 3 retired professors replaced for a several years, but the dean wanted to do it over a 3 year period.

When one partner made the campus interview stage, the department chair saw the partner's cv and told the dean that they should just hire the 2 of them right away and get it over with. It worked.

But that seemed to be an isolated case in which the lines were already in place.

My advice would be that your partner takes a job in a large city and you apply over the span of the next couple of years to universities in the area.

A huge factor should be the possibility to do research for your partner, b/c it can be easy to get stuck at a CSU b/c of the heavy teaching/service component, although there are some departments w/ excellent publishing records amongst their faculty.

The better your research/cv, the better your chances are to receive outside offers and negotiate a spousal hire.

[offthemarket]

Even in a good economy, the prospects of a spousal hire in a Cal State are relatively small.  Now, every campus is stretched very thin, and the only searches happening are the ones that really need to happen, to fill a particular need.  Spousal hires won't happen unless they also fit a particular need.

Consideration for an adjunct or instructor position of some sort might be possible, sure - it depends on local factors.

[jacaranda_]

Keep in mind that Cal State campuses now have a cap on admissions -- which seems insane (and very sad) to me.  So the prospects of new lines or more adjunct positions opening up even in future years as the state population continues to expand don't look very hopeful.

And aside from all that, I've heard some horror stories from colleagues working on some CalState campuses re administration issues.  I completely understand wanting to move (back?) to California, but I don't think I would jump ship from a "great TT-line" so close to tenure, no matter how homesick I was.