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[slownsteady]

So it seemed like we are almost there..we thought we could both move to the same univ together. But not yet..

Some history: I have already accepted a TT job in an R1 dept x school X. while I was negotiating my offer, spouse was invited for interview in same univ. dept y, school Y. week after the interview the chair informed spouse that an offer will be made. Actually she informed this on the day of the interview itself. Now I have accepted my offer and it has been 2.5 months and spouse has not yet recieved an offer letter. The department has been in touch and said it is with the Provost..but then later said they are working on getting offer with tenure to be approved and that is taking time dealing with the P&T.

My Chair had told me long ago that they could try to push spouse's offer to be fast through our dean if we need. But we did not yet ask for anything like that. Now that the time for my start date is getting close, we are in a dilemma as to what we can do other than to wait. Department y is a new department and perhaps they are still in a learning process with many things.

Any advice on what we can do.. Spouse may now plan to apply to other places nearby if this does not go any fast. But is it okay to ask my department to find out or help at this point. I have already accepted my offer, so I do not want to do anything that is not right. Since the two departments are in different schools in the same univ.. what are the chances that my Dean can help anyways?
I love my department and really want this to work out...

[crowie]

I would politely raise it with your Chair, explaining that you would like to take him/her up on the offer to enquire with the Dean about anything that might expedite the process.

[slownsteady]

I did think about this. But we are a bit worried that doing so may end any possible negotiations that spouse could have in this job. Spouse's department knows that I have an offer..But we don't know if they know that I have accepted in school X.. We are wondering if going this rout through my department will reduce any chance of negotiations spouse may have.. Also we worry if spouse's chair or Dean amy feel offended if they are pressured by my department.

Spouse has been told by the chair that she and the dean are in agreement about spouse's offer and prospects of tenure with offer..They have to work it through the P&T..who has the final say in P&T decision: ..Dean or Provost?

[daniel_von_flanagan]

They have to work it through the P&T..who has the final say in P&T decision: ..Dean or Provost?

Any level can can overturn any other level, but usually are reluctant to do so; if a P&T committee is balking, this could be the real locus of difficulty.

Provost is above Dean, but probably the final say is with the Board of Trustees.

Of course, policy is institution-dependent; mine does not give tenure on hire. - DvF

[slownsteady]

DVF, Thanks for the reply. We know another faculty in the same univ. in a different school Z who got tenure on hire ..She has the same experience level, funding and such as my spouse. It is not very common but it seems that for the right candidate this university does tenure on hire.

So do you suggest not bringing it up with my department and just wait and see?

Does P&T committee comprise of faculty from the same school or different schools in the univ.? Do you know of cases where P&T decided against the Chair's and Dean's interest?

[dr_strangelove]

What I don't understand is why you are asking a bunch of strangers about the P+T process at your new school. Didn't either you or your spouse ask about the P+T process during your interview? Isn't there a faculty handbook that you can look at?

[slownsteady]

No spouse did not ask anything during the interview. The Chair said that in discussion with the Dean it seems like we can get you tenure on hire. That was it. The faculty hand book lists details and schedules when P&T will meet and so on. No mention of tenure on hire. This is clearly not a norm and nothing is documented- as far as we can see.

Spouse may ask the chair for more details later on. Right now we are just trying to guess how much longer all this may take.

[dr_strangelove]

Presumably the handbook also has the answers to some of the other questions you've asked here, like the composition of the various P+T boards, who has the final word, etc.

When the chair said that "it seems like we can get you tenure on hire" your spouse should have asked exactly what the process and timeline would be. I don't see any harm in asking at this time.

[daniel_von_flanagan]

So do you suggest not bringing it up with my department and just wait and see?

No, I am just giving a possible source of the delay.  If you are planning to start work there in a couple of months and still do not know what is happening w/r to your spouse, I do think you should talk to someone.

Does P&T committee comprise of faculty from the same school or different schools in the univ.?

This is institution-specific.

Do you know of cases where P&T decided against the Chair's and Dean's interest?

Oh my, yes.  In both directions.

Incidentally, one issue with spousal hires is that departments don't like to have faculty thrust upon them, especially if there is a mismatch between the candidate's specialty and the departments strategic goals.  I hope the Chair in this case is reflecting the will of his department.  - DvF

[slownsteady]

Strangelove and dvf thanks for the inputs. Just to clarify the situation..this is not a spousal hire. It just so happened that we both got picked by two departments in the same univ for two different positions. The departments at the time of decision were not aware of the other party. In fact during interview,  spouse's chair mentioned that they could create a non tt position for me if required at which point spouse mentioned that it may not be required as i was already having an offer.
So yes spouse's chair seems to be trying her best.
I may try to talk to my chair about this situation as we are getting very worried about the whole long distance move with small children when spouse's offer is in limbo. I am just worried that I may be bothering my chair and dean when I never asked about help with spousal hire before and now i have already accepted the offer..so will they actually worry about the whole spousal situation? May be I should have asked before accepting?

Also these two departments are in different schools so not sure if my dean will have any say in this matter..
Any suggestions on how to phrase it to my chair?

[dr_strangelove]

One thing you need to realize is that these people can't read your mind or your spouse's mind, so they are probably assuming that you think everything is hunky-dory.

Second, it seems to me that the first thing that should happen is that your spouse should contact his or her new chair and find out WTF is going on after 2.5 months with no offer letter. If that reveals some stumbling block, your spouse could ask if it would it be helpful if the chair of  your new department or the dean of your new college weighed in on this.

On the other hand, since your chair and dean apparently already volunteered to help, I don't see any reason why you shouldn't contact your new chair either.

[slownsteady]

Spouse had asked about a month ago and at that time the chair said " i have signed everything and it is with the provost". Few days ago when spouse contacted again to know the status the chair said that the main stumbling block is the tenure and she is trying her best to get that going. Spouse does not obviously want to contact them frequently .. So just waiting.

So we don't know what to expect...Chair also tells spouse everytime that they want a sept. start date...