Two body problem solved - hang in there!

Hubby and I finally solved our two body situation. I'm in my fifth year on TT at Large Private school and he adjuncted at the same university for the last three years (two years adjuncting fulltime but the university limits FT adjuncting to four semesters, then you can only be parttime - EVEN if you adjunct across multiple depts AND multiple schools!).

I went on the market more broadly than ever this year BUT focusing solely on schools that had some sort of policy and preferably 'office of dual career'. Having these signals that university appreciates the challenges of dual career couples and recognizes that they must address the issue if they are going to recruit from the largest pool possible. I got two campus visits, including one at Large Public University where the school seemed so excited about my candidacy that I was upfront in the visit about our two body situation. To my surprise they asked about hubby's background. The dean said 'It sounds like we need to bring him in for a campus visit' (hubby has some background teaching in an area tangential to mine though it's not his focal area).

A few weeks later they made me an offer and flew hubby out. Large Public school was tickled to possibly land hubby. Made him an offer about a week after visit. We negotiated details of each offer and accepted a few days later.

Throughout this process, even before my first phone interview with Large Public, hubby and I met with my dean to see if there were any opportunities available for hubby fulltime and generally to get the Dean's insight and advice on our options. The dean was enthusiastic about finding a fulltime lecturer gig for hubby. Lots of talk among many associate deans and with dept chairs in other schools of the university where hubby might be a good fit.

At the same time, my research was going very well (dept chair and others in the dept say I'll easily get tenure). I'd become a standout performer in my dept and brought Large Private university a ton of international publicity. The timing of our going on the market to land other offers couldn't have been better. I thought we were in an excellent position for Large Private to work hard to keep us (or at least me?).

***However, Large Private turned out to be all talk and no action. I think the insight here for other two body couples is that there is TONS more incentive for a recruiting school to work hard to GET or recruit you, whereas your current university has a harder time seeing their efforts as paying off. They may wonder if you'll really jump ship. Also, Large Private seemed to see hubby as a ‘problem’ whereas Large Public say him as a ‘solution’ to some classes they needed covered and that his credentials were impressive.

Hang in there two body couples! It is an incredibly difficult path to navigate but also empowering for both halves when things work out!

Chronicle Forums