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[remotecontrol25]

I have a new position at an institution. I have not started yet, but have been hired and am familiar with the people in the department. My spouse is living long distance from me, but she now has an on-campus interview at my institution. This is a great situation to be in. However, she wants to get a position on her own merit, not just because she is married to a current employee. I think she should be able to do this anyway, but we need some help.

We have different last names, but are in the same field. Anybody that has read her CV thoroughly can see that we at least work together, and can probably figure out we are married. I know of at least one individual involved with the search who knows we are married.

1) I will be starting at this position in January.  She and the other candidates will be interviewing afterward, and I will have to opportunity to meet them and see their presentations. Do I just come right out and say that I have a relationship with one of the candidates and have a conflict of interest and therefore do not wish to meet any of the candidates or see their presentations? I don't want to look standoffish by not getting involved, but I don't want to look unethical / biased in a professional matter either.

2) When my spouse interviews, that is a chance for us to spend a weekend together before / after the interview. Should she just be up front with the dean / search committee and not do a typical overnight visit and explain that she will be staying a few extra days before / after the interview at no additional cost to them? Should she be straight up and give the reason for this (staying with me), or just request it without an explanation. Or is it unethical for her to use a paid flight for an interview to also spend a weekend with me after the interview before returning?

3) On that note, should she have them put her up in a hotel as a usual candidate would? Logically and financially, it makes more sense for the university for her to stay with me, but we don't want to offend the university by not following the standard procedure. Even something as small as being picked up by the search committee at the hotel - I will be driving to work, so she may as well come with me without inconveniencing anybody else. However, these things just further advertise the fact that we are married and may even come off negatively, like we are looking for special consideration for her hiring.

4) If somebody does ask one of us about our work with the other, should we just simply come out and say we are married? Or should I state how my expertise in one area complimented her expertise in another area and how collaboration was a natural fit.

5) Lastly, this is for an entry-level assistant professor position (ABD considered). She is a recently tenured associate, so a question that may come up is why she is applying for this entry level position. I know negotiation about rank is not supposed to take place until the offer is on the table, but clearly she would not be looking to step down to a lower rank and salary. How should she approach this when it comes up - just try to step around it until an offer is made (IF an offer is made, at least), or be up front?

I don't want to hide anything, but I don't want to look like either of us has a sense of entitlement or expert special favors regarding her candidacy. The search committee and dean all seem like very reasonable and understanding people - I had nothing but great experiences during my interview / hiring process.

Any thoughts?

[systeme_d_]

Call your new chair.  Now.  Explain the situation.  Do NOT apologize for it, or say something about "not wanting special favors."  Yes, you do want a special favor.  And there is nothing wrong with that.  Some people work for decades to solve a two-body problem.  You have the opportunity to have yours solved right out of the gate.  That's amazing.

So call your new chair and ask if the university has any policies that favor spousal hires.

Do not email.

Call.

Good luck!

[remotecontrol25]

Thanks for the advice. However, my spouse does not want me to ask for any special treatment for her. She wants to know that she really earned the position, not just be given it because of who she is married to. I realize asking for a favor is easier, but she does not want that, and I respect her wishes. Thus, all of the questions to debate!

Thanks!

[prof_smartypants]

Thanks for the advice. However, my spouse does not want me to ask for any special treatment for her. She wants to know that she really earned the position, not just be given it because of who she is married to. I realize asking for a favor is easier, but she does not want that, and I respect her wishes. Thus, all of the questions to debate!

Thanks!

You're not asking a favor. You are alerting the university to the fact that they will be able to have two stable positions filled long-term rather than likely losing you in the near future to be near your spouse. This saves the university money. She earned the interview on her own - that's indication enough that she is good enough for the job. Call your chair.

[zharkov]

Thanks for the advice. However, my spouse does not want me to ask for any special treatment for her. She wants to know that she really earned the position, not just be given it because of who she is married to. I realize asking for a favor is easier, but she does not want that, and I respect her wishes. Thus, all of the questions to debate!

Thanks!

Noble sentiment, but that is not how most of the world works.  To be clear, I'm talking about networking, not moving someone to the head of the line owing to this or that relationship.   So calling the chair and saying, "Heads up, just wanted to let you know my spouse has applied," is networking.  But calling the chair and demanding that spouse get the job is not networking.

So network already.

[macaroon]

Congratulations to the both of you!

The fact that she is your wife is a matter of public record.  A marriage is a contractual agreement.  You need to provide this information to your department.  You will probably be asked to vote on the new candidates - you're going to have to abstain from that vote, right?  What are you going to say that is true here? 

As systeme_d says, call the chair and provide this piece of information.  But, you think one person on the SC knows?  If so, I think everyone knows.

[2clueless]

Others have pointed out the positives of identifying the relationship between you and your wife. I'll point out that there are some significant negatives to not clarifying your relationship with a candidate.

You do not mention if your position is TT, but it sounds like you will be in a position to assess and evaluate candidates, as well as potentially to meet with the candidates themselves. IMHO, it would be extremely unethical for you to do so without your department - and the other candidates - understanding that you have a significant conflict of interest in the search.

Forget about getting your wife a job - if I were in your new department and you participated in a search without shouting from the rooftops that your wife was one of the candidates, I would be in favor of letting you go: if you were willing to be this sneaky and unethical about something as important as a TT line, I would not trust you as a member of the department, period. (Plus, even if someone disagreed with me that your behavior was unethical, I'd think you were really weird, which is also Not Good for a new faculty member.)

It sounds like your wife got an on-campus interview on her own merits. You need to tell your new chair now about your conflict of interest - and yes, that conflict of interest will likely work in favor of your wife's candidacy, but that's not the most important reason that your department needs to know.

[curmudgeonintraining]

Thanks for the advice. However, my spouse does not want me to ask for any special treatment for her. She wants to know that she really earned the position, not just be given it because of who she is married to. I realize asking for a favor is easier, but she does not want that, and I respect her wishes. Thus, all of the questions to debate!

Thanks!

This is foolish. Do you want to spend your marriage apart? Then you should maximize your spouse's chances for the job. If she feels she needs to prove herself for some reason, she can do it on the tenure track. Our department's most recent hire was a spousal hire and he has already won our field's top book award and a university teaching award. We are lucky to have him and could care less that he was a spousal hire.

[totoro]

On another note, your spouse should expect to lose tenure - most likely be a tenure track associate prof. But this depends on how good their track record is and the institutional culture.

[helpful]

Chime on what everyone else is saying.

On your other questions, I would strongly suggest that given that you will be informing the department chair about your wife getting an interview, you should also do all the other parts of the visit above board. In other words, she should stay with you (who cares if normally candidates get an overnight; it's no one's business how long she stays in your town or where she stays). However, I would leave it to SC to determine about transportation and whether you should be involved in any part of the interview/presentation process. I would think you would not get a vote on hiring, nor would I think it is advisable to go to any of the other presentations or interviews.

Your wife should also be up front as to why she is interested in the position. She should talk about her own interests in the field and the department. Just saying she is interested because you are there is a major no-no. (We had one candidate do that once; among other reasons, this was the major reason he didn't get an offer for a spousal hire).

PS you say your wife has an 'interview at your institution' but you work in the same field as her. Does that mean her interview is not with the same department that you work in? You didn't state this, so please clarify as it also determines your strategy.

[larryc]

As others have said, it would be highly unethical not to lay your cards on the table right now. This isn't a game and if I were your chair I'd be pissed not to have been told.

[remotecontrol25]

Thanks for the advice. It sounds pretty clear that ethically people need to know that she is my wife.

Just to clarify a few things. We are not in the same department, but in departments that would work closely together and are housed within the same college. My chair is actually the one person that does know she is my wife. The chair of the department hiring her has not specifically been informed of this by me, but he may have been informed by my chair.

I actually asked in my post about reporting a conflict of interest and abstaining from interacting with any of the candidates - I am not looking to get some kind of unethical and unfair advantage her and would not be comfortable voting on any of the candidates.

Thanks again!

[helpful]

OP: Normally at your university, does a member of another department, but in the same college, have any interaction with candidates at interviews, or votes on who should be hired, etc? If not, it should be easy to not be involved. If there is involvement, then you need to tell the faculty of that other department why you are not attending any of the presentations or interviews (ie. you shouldn't attend any presentations or interviews if your wife is being interviewed).

Is there any member of your department on the search committee? If so, they should be informed that she is your wife.

[larryc]

You should tell your chair that you will of course not be participating in any of the.job talks or other parts of the search for any of the candidates.

[macaroon]

You should tell your chair that you will of course not be participating in any of the.job talks or other parts of the search for any of the candidates.

Wait, does this still apply if the talks are public?  In my discipline, job talks (and, for that matter, thesis presentations) tend to be open to anyone, and well-attended by everyone, including undergrads and interested people from other departments.   I would find it odd if someone didn't attend a talk like this.