He's used it as a recruiting tool at Chicago and earlier, as chairman of the English department at Duke University. At Chicago, he has taken spousal hiring to a new level. This spring, he's hoping to snag a total of five couples, representing more than 30 percent of the total new hires in the college for the coming academic year. Although few administrators are as aggressive as Mr. Fish, many have made couple-hiring a top priority. If there is nothing we can do to accommodate the spouse, it is quite likely they will take some other offer.
Deans often allow a department to hire a trailing spouse even if there are no positions open.
That's an advantage for a department that might otherwise have to wait to make a hire until someone retires. At Michigan, the provost contributes as much as a third of the money needed to pay a spouse's salary. Purdue University created a special program seven years ago to encourage the hiring of partners, and offers extra money to departments that do. The money, which helps pay the partner's salary, usually lasts until the person receives tenure. In all, Purdue has helped 33 couples that way.