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[latenight_earlymorn]

Here is our situation:
I am in my fifth year at a SLAC and will most likely receive tenure next year. My field is in the physical sciences. My partner is completing her Ph.D. in an applied social science. She has an on-campus interview at an institution that is seven hours from my SLAC, and there are no institutions near me where she could be on tenure-track within her niche field. The opportunities for her near my SLAC are more generalist positions or outside of higher education.

The area near her interview site is rich in colleges and universities, so it is feasible that I would be able to obtain a teaching job nearby. At this moment, there are no appropriate positions for me in the area. However, there is a post-doc position only twenty minutes away. I have been away from research for five years and have only two publications (wrap-up of grad school projects) since earning my Ph.D. in 2005, so I may not even be competitive for the post-doc. But I wonder how it would be viewed if I left my tenure-track position for a post-doc? Would returning to a SLAC be difficult in the future?

[sibyl]

I don't know that it would necessarily make it more difficult to return to the tenure track.  But I don't think it's necessary to step off the tenure track in order for you to be reasonably close.

This year's job market is not the same as next year's job market; for that matter, this fall's job market is not the same as this spring's.  "No jobs for her near you" and "no jobs for you near her" are not permanent conditions.  Assuming she gets this job -- which is a big if, though I've got fingers crossed -- then you can look for positions that might open up this spring, or she can look for something closer to you next year, or you can both look for something together in a few years.  Yes, seven-hour separations are no fun, but many people have done them and survived -- and you can both spend that separated time channeling your energies into more research, which will improve your ability to get jobs near each other.

Good luck.

[ruralguy]

I've only seen people step off the tenure track permanently. I don't know how hard they tried to get back on, if at all. I suspect its quite difficult. I would probably only leave TT for a post-doc if I knew that the post-doc had some potential for growing into something else a bit less temporary  (i.e., its at a big lab or a university with many similar sorts of openings).

[prytania3]

I think it would make you look crazy frankly.

If you really want to stay on the t-t, you either need to publish more or look at more teaching-oriented colleges, but for Pete's sake, don't quit the job you have until you have another one unless your partner is planning to support you.

We have massive unemployment at the moment.

[totoro]

I've only seen people step off the tenure track permanently. I don't know how hard they tried to get back on, if at all. I suspect its quite difficult. I would probably only leave TT for a post-doc if I knew that the post-doc had some potential for growing into something else a bit less temporary  (i.e., its at a big lab or a university with many similar sorts of openings).

I doubt the OP is going to be competitive for a post-doc 5 years post PhD with only two publications.

I quit my tenured job and trying to get onto the tenure-track equivalent in another country. Lots of interviews but no success yet. But I have had two non-tenure track jobs since quitting in 2007. Well one, the second one is starting in January. It's at rank of what would be a full-prof in the US and commensurate pay but only for a year. Previous one paid what a post-doc usually gets paid in this country. But I have 1 1/2 orders of magnitude more publications than the OP.