I think several research universities have such policies, although
I cannot say if they are formal or not. At Penn State, we have
a number of recent cases where "couples" were hired under a general
policy of assisting in finding appropriate professional employment
for a spouse (and both M's and F's have been the 2nd hire). In most
of these cases the two people are not in the same department (although
we have at least two cases where they are), and often both are hired
into tenure eligible positions (this varies). This has required, on
more than one occaision, creating a new tenure track position.
Such accommodations will be more difficult under current fiscal
conditions, but there seems to be increasing awareness of the common
existence of couples who both have appropriate professional credentials.
Hiring a couple for one position seems more risky: what do you do if
one of the pair gets tenure but not the other. Seems messy to me.
Dick Pratt BITNET:pqq at psuvm INTERNET: pqq at psuvm.psu.edu
7 Ferguson Bldg.
Penn State
University Park, PA 16802 814/865-6942
