Academic couples
Universities are finding you can't have one without the other
par Harriet Eisenkraft
Mark Stradiotto had been a chemistry professor with Dalhousie University for one year when he approached the chair of his department with the news of his approaching marriage. His fiancée, Laura Turculet, also an inorganic chemist, was finishing her doctoral work at the University of California at Berkeley. He said that he was "beginning to explore elsewhere" and would leave if she found a position in a different city. Living separately "was not an acceptable option," Dr. Stradiotto said. "Though I love my work, I would have changed many things in my working life for us to stay together."
Fortunately for these two young scholars, Drs. Turculet and Stradiotto will not have to wait long before their reunion. In the fall of 2005, she will take up her tenure-track position with Dalhousie's chemistry department. A beneficiary of that school's spousal appointment policy, Dr. Turculet was the sole candidate for the position.
Just like Dalhousie, every Canadian university has had to make decisions on whether, and how, to hire a faculty member's spouse. A fiercely competitive hiring scene combined with growing legions of academic couples means that universities can not turn away from this front-burner issue that shows no signs of cooling down.
In a recent survey of Canadian science deans, spousal hiring emerged as one of the biggest issues confronting their faculties. At Queen's University, senior administration felt that a spousal hiring policy was necessary, given the competition that all universities in North America are facing, says Robert Silverman, Queen's dean of arts and science, who conducted the survey.
Considering families
"This has been brewing since the late '90s," says Jan Nolan, now working as director of recruitment and retention initiatives at the University of Victoria while on leave from the University of Toronto. Universities recognized that "if we wanted faculty members to come to our university, to settle here and be productive, we'd have to take into account their personal circumstances," says Ms. Nolan, who started U of T's family-care program in 1993.
"There are many more jobs chasing the elite candidates," adds Carl Amrhein, who has approved "four or five" spousal appointments since joining the University of Alberta as provost and vice-president, academic, last year. "Most of them know that if they are patient enough, they will find attractive combinations of appointments in the same place."
The most recent figures from the U.S. Census Bureau reveal that roughly 40 percent of all full-time faculty members have academic partners. (Figures might be slightly lower for Canada.) Pat Finn, executive director of the Carleton University Academic Staff Association, says that while most faculty associations prefer open competitiveness in hiring, "we all understand that from time to time there may need to be creative solutions. So long as it's a minority of hirings, it's okay. Otherwise, there will be a backlash."
Spousal hiring is a sensitive topic because it challenges some of the most closely held tenets of academic advancement, including fairness, merit and accessibility. "They [spousal appointments] can compromise the bigger principles of open hiring," observes Sheila Embleton, vice-president, academic, of York University.
But some observers say that fair and well-considered policies can also benefit departments and universities, making them the kind of environment where the best researchers want to spend their careers. From an administrative point of view, the "two-body problem" can be seen as a "two-body opportunity," suggests Adel Sedra, dean of engineering at the University of Waterloo. "Through pursuing one person, we'd get a spouse who was [also] good in his or her field," explains Dr. Sedra, who, as provost of the University of Toronto from 1993 to 2002, implemented the institution's spousal hiring policy
Ms. Nolan says it's often the case that both partners in a couple have outstanding qualifications. She points to Edith Hillan, who originally came to U of T's faculty of nursing as an accompanying spouse from a senior position at the University of Glasgow. Now, after three years, she's been named vice-provost, academic, for the university.
U of T is among a handful of universities that have set up specific polices to hire accompanying spouses of desirable candidates, mainly for temporary positions that may segue into long-term ones. Others, such as Dalhousie, Carleton and the University of Alberta, have amended collective agreements to offer tenure-track jobs. Some universities without entrenched policies will still deal with spouses in a concerted but ad hoc manner, while a few oppose spousal hiring on philosophical grounds or because of bad experiences in the past. (See the article "How it works" at the end of the article.)
Some critics argue that spousal candidates are vulnerable to questions about competence. Gillian Wu, dean of science and engineering at York University, prefers the system there, where "the culture of the university is transparent. Everyone goes around with their heads high" because of the peer-evaluated procedures in hiring.
Ensuring quality
Others say there are ways to ensure that spousal candidates are well qualified and appropriate, even in the absence of wide advertising. For example, Dalhousie's chemistry department struck a hiring committee that included Dalhousie faculty from other disciplines as well as chemistry professors from other universities when deciding whether to appoint Dr. Turculet, since she was up for a position in the same department as her husband. This course of action is spelled out in Dalhousie's collective agreement.
"It removes a degree of anxiety" in the department when you haven't gone through a normal competition, explains Sam Scully, Dalhousie vice-president, academic, and provost. He calls the policy a necessary instrument in a "complicated world," adding, "At the end of the day, if it's been honestly done, I have no qualms with [spousal hiring]."
These policies tend to work best when the spouses have established credentials for peers to scrutinize. But more and more often, junior-faculty couples are coming up for this kind of review. While many administrators say that spousal hiring should be in place for all kinds of candidates, Dr. Amrhein, at U of A, disagrees: "We should only be hiring stars. If we're not, we shouldn't even be entertaining this question."
The hiring process can be very demanding of a spouse, even one who is already in a contract position, and it may also require well-honed negotiating skills on the part of the couple. At U of T, Stephen Scharper was advised by his chairman to "make himself indispensable" when he accepted a limited-term appointment in religious studies in 1999 under the university's spousal policy, while his wife, Hilary Cunningham, began her tenure-track position in anthropology. Over several years, Dr. Scharper developed and resurrected courses in various departments and was instrumental in attracting more graduate students. But when no permanent position surfaced and an offer came from McGill University to start a graduate program there, the two went to the heads of their respective departments at U of T.
"We made it clear that unless a tenure-track position became available, this would become a retention issue for both of us," recalls Dr. Scharper. U of T eventually came through with a cross-appointment for him in both religious and environmental studies. But even after years of proving himself in a term appointment, Dr. Scharper had to present a full dossier with letters supporting his achievements and give job talks so colleagues could vet him and see that "this isn't just a caboose hanging onto a wifely train."
Also at U of T, historian Mohamad Tavakoli-Targhi was on a one-year visiting post in 2003, accompanying his wife Jennifer Jenkins who had just started a tenure-track position in German history, when some U.S. universities started recruiting both of them. After his interview with U of T, Dr. Tavakoli-Targhi brought in Shirin Ebadi, that year's Nobel Peace Prize winner, to give a lecture - viewed as quite a coup by the department.
"It's up to the spouse to prove him or herself [and] if it's a welcoming environment, that can happen," says Dr. Tavakoli-Targhi, now cross-appointed at U of T in history, classics and Middle Eastern civilizations.
Another criticism of spousal hirings is that even when the candidates are excellent, these appointments violate the sacrosanct norm of the department- controlled protocol, because deans and provosts may serve as brokers between departments and must approve spousal appointments when there is a shared-cost arrangement or when open searches are waived.
Other administrators disagree, and maintain that the ultimate decision for any spousal appointment rests with the department's chair, often in consultation with faculty members. Spousal appointments, they say, are always handled on a case-by-case basis with no guarantees given to candidates. Many concur with Pekka Sinervo, U of T's dean of arts and science, who calls the process "a balance of competing interests . . . You don't distort the priorities of the relevant academic units nor compromise their standards."
But a faculty member who once approved a temporary spousal hiring that was not appropriate for the department says "you do it because you want to please your dean," whether the dean is leaning heavily or not. Frances Woolley, professor of economics at Carleton University, also remains unconvinced: "The deans don't force but there's no difficulty getting the position through? I'd be suspicious," she says.
Dr. Woolley observes that in theory the benefit of hiring spouses may exceed the cost, but in practice spousal hires are often difficult to enact within the timeline involved. "Even with the policy in place," she says, "when you're hiring, you usually can't generate a job quickly. Every department has its own culture and personality and you want somebody who fits. A department will not offer a tenure-track position without at least flying a candidate in. They're going to be colleagues for a long time."
Academic spouses are not an entirely new phenomenon. According to various studies from the1997 book, Academic Couples: Problems and Promises, edited by Marianne Ferber and Jane W. Loeb, there were couples on staff at various institutions at the end of the 19th century, at least in the United States. Their numbers dwindled with the rise of anti-nepotism laws that were prevalent until the 1970s, later in the case of some Canadian universities. (African-American couples working in all-black institutions in the U.S. proved the exception.) If a wife was able to find a job in academe during those bad old days, it was likely a non-tenured, sessional or part-time position that could go on for years.
The sessional teaching jobs that many women took out of necessity were often exploitative and dead-end. A story circulates about a Canadian academic who lectured in the mornings and then worked as the chairman's secretary in the afternoons, despite the fact that her credentials more than matched her tenured husband's.
Ironically, spousal policies may stand the anti-nepotism theory on its head by filling equity needs at many universities. "In general, women are under-represented in the academy," says Janice Drakich, director of faculty recruitment and retention at the University of Windsor. "Spousal hiring could be used to address the imbalance." Although the university doesn't have a formal policy, Dr. Drakich says that the administration, the department and the faculty association might allow a spousal hiring without an open competition if the candidate would add to the diversity of the faculty.
The University of Windsor is fortunate because of its location as a border city close to at least five U.S. universities where many spouses of its faculty now work. Similarly, universities in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver also enjoy a distinct advantage, with or without policies, because of greater opportunities that await their prospective candidates and partners at other universities in the area. Indeed, in the United States, where about 20 percent of all universities have some sort of policy in place, studies show the problem in finding jobs for spouses is most acute at smaller institutions in towns without other academic options.
That's the situation facing Nipissing University in Northern Ontario, says Andrew Dean, its dean of arts and science. He says that even without a written policy, "we're very conscious of trying to accommodate spouses - it's becoming a major issue. Smaller, isolated universities, especially those with big teaching loads, have to try harder."
With or without policies, universities are all looking at other ways to accommodate spouses. When no job prospects are available or imminent, departments may create research positions or award postdoctoral posts to spouses. At York University, Marc Stein, a history professor, recently worked out a flexible January through August teaching schedule for 2005 so that he can spend more time with his partner, Jorge Olivares, a professor at Colby College in Maine. (See "Couples who commute" at the end of the article.)
If both academics are in the same field, departments may also be able to accommodate both in two tenured half-time appointments. That was the case for years with Theresa Topic and her husband, John Topic, in the department of anthropology at Trent University, before she left to take up a full-time administrative position at Brescia University College in London, Ontario, where she's now principal.
Many schools are looking at the example of a Web site set up by 18 universities in Northern California to help dual-career couples find jobs in the same area. Some universities are hiring recruitment officers and relocation specialists to facilitate the transitions or headhunt for academic partners.
No matter what a university chooses to do about spousal hiring, the problem isn't going away. Says Dr. Turculet, who will be joining her husband at Dalhousie next fall: "Even though people hope they don't have to deal with it, everybody knows it's out there."
That's not necessarily a bad thing, adds her husband, Dr. Stradiotto. He describes, with a laugh, how the chelate effect in chemistry is a good metaphor for academic couples working together: If two things are joined together in their attachment to a molecule, it becomes difficult for an outside force to remove one or both.
That, in a nutshell, is both the challenge and the potential benefit for universities that are hoping to recruit and retain faculty in the 21st century.
How it works in Canada
A variety of policies and practices dealing with spousal appointments have developed across the country. Here are examples of the main types.
Limited term appointments
The University of Toronto, with no faculty union, has a set of academic requirements that must be followed for spousal hirings. Most are limited term appointments of three years or more, intended as a place holder from which the spouse may find a more permanent position, either at U of T or elsewhere. Funding is split three ways among the departments housing the spouses and the dean's or provost's office. "The sharing of funding was important," says Pekka Sinervo, dean of arts and science. "It ensures that the department isn't making the decision because it's a freebie." Occasionally, a spouse will apply for an open tenure-track position where the requirements of a competitive search may be waived after due diligence checks.
At Queen's University, spousal appointments are set out in the collective agreement as non-renewable term appointments for no more than five years. The candidate may apply for tenure during or afterward. If both appointments are within the same faculty, it pays for the appointment; when they cross faculties, the vice-president academic contributes up to 50 per cent of the cost, the rest to be borne by the receiving faculty. With the policy now in its third year, Queen's is discovering there are some unanticipated variables, says Robert Silverman, dean of arts and science, who is nevertheless optimistic about the policy. He stresses, "The first criterion is: does the partner make the bar?"
Tenured or tenure-track positions
Carleton University, Dalhousie University and the University of Alberta have all amended their collective or faculty agreements to allow for waiving the requirements of an open search in certain cases where a candidate's acceptance of a position is contingent on a spousal appointment.
At Carleton, the appointment must be approved by the president and reported to the faculty association. At Dalhousie, spousal candidates must demonstrate competitiveness by following both internal assessments and external ones; the latter may include references from other universities, evidence of being short-listed for at least two other comparable jobs elsewhere, or having held a similar job at another university. The U of A policy applies to both tenure-track and temporary positions; the vice-president's office pays one-third of all costs for both types of positions, with the rest coming from the departments employing both spouses. The regulations of the three universities state that the appointments must be acceptable to both departments.
Ad hoc policies
Even where no formal policies exist, many universities will attempt to accommodate spouses of desirable candidates. At the University of British Columbia, such appointments are handled on a case by case basis. Rob Tierney, dean of education, says he might take the extra step of contacting other deans if a very qualified spouse of an exceptional candidate came up for hiring but that he would never impose one on a department. Several years back, a sub-committee of deans addressed the issue, concluding that departments should get resources, such as a list of relocation experts who could help with academic appointments for faculty spouses.
Nipissing University in North Bay, Ontario, has no policy, but many couples have found work together there in the last few years. The school may use bridging appointments as a way of fast-tracking positions when none are available immediately.
Against spousal hirings
Some universities have taken a position against spousal hirings. York University's administrators limit their involvement to "matchmaking. We'd forward a CV to anyone at York or at other universities," says Sheila Embleton, vice-president academic. Still, there have been some "fortuitous coincidences" of dual-couple hirings there in the past few years. Trent University looked at a way for faculty members to share positions in their respective fields. But Stefan Bilaniuk, president of the Trent University Faculty Association, says many members "felt it smacked of nepotism and did not like the fact that it bypassed our normal [competitive] appointment procedures." It was removed from the collective agreement in 2002, but the association may have another go at the issue in the future, says Dr. Bilaniuk.
Couples who commute
When academic couples find positions in different locations, commuting becomes a factor in their lives, either by choice or necessity. Theresa Topic's interest in women's education, particularly in a Catholic school setting, convinced her to accept the full-time position that eventually led to her present one as principal of Brescia University College in London, Ontario. With her husband still on faculty at Trent University in Peterborough, she makes the three-hour drive often: "There's a real price attached to that separation and we chose to pay that price in order to have the positions we wanted."
Marc Stein joined the history department of York University in 1998, around the time that his partner, Jorge Olivares, was starting a sabbatical from the Spanish department and Latin American studies program at Colby College in Maine, where he held an endowed chair. Dr. Olivares was approached about applying for positions at both York and U of T but, having emigrated once in his life (from Cuba) and knowing that the salary in Canada would be much lower than he was used to, he returned to the liberal arts college in 1999. Over the past six years, Drs. Olivares and Stein have maintained two homes, kept up a tedious commute and made do with a series of sabbaticals and unpaid leaves. Dr. Stein enjoys his work at York in history and sexuality studies, but last year began to consider positions closer to his Maine home. It was then that York agreed to a more flexible winter-summer teaching schedule as a solution. Still, he says the couple has made one major sacrifice because of their situation: "We would have considered having children if we didn't have the commuting. We wouldn't have [them] as commuters and we weren't prepared to give up our respective careers."
Less content, and possibly more typical, is an assistant professor in the humanities who joined a Western Canadian university about five years ago. His wife, also an academic, works on the other side of the country. When this professor (who doesn't want his name used) was offered his tenure-track position, there was documented discussion (now lost) about the university's willingness to help his wife find a job, either at the university or outside academe. But nothing has materialized. He says he is exhausted and broke from commuting, and feels he could be more productive if the situation were different. Indeed, a recent U.S. study found that couples who work at the same university are happier and less stressed out than their commuting counterparts. He's resentful, he says, because "they made noises and then didn't carry through."
