Professors, especially those who are part of Group I faculty, tend to shift their focus to improving the overall university when they are married to other OU faculty.
Ohio University faculty members who get married to other faculty are more likely to stay in Athens, improving the university’s levels of faculty retention and involvement, many faculty members maintain.
Professors who are married tend to shift their focus to improving the overall university rather than focusing on their own resumes, especially when both spouses get tenure. Spouses who are not tenure-track, however, may be more inclined to stay as well, Mark Barsamian, associate lecturer of mathematics, said.
“The university wants to try to get the best faculty they can, but there’s a very real issue of retention,” Barsamian said. “Hot, young faculty who are really good may jump ship in a year or two, especially if they are not attached to someone here.”
Barsamian is married to Carey Snyder, associate professor of English.
Associate Professors of English Andrew Escobedo and Beth Quitslund both specialize in renaissance literature and agree that they were lucky they both were able to get tenure track jobs. At the beginning of their relationship, when Quitslund worked in Connecticut and Escobedo worked here in Athens, they would often fly to see each other more than once a month, Escobedo said.
“Because tenure track jobs are so scarce, long distance relationships are not that uncommon,” Escobedo said. “Academics who are like-minded individuals are naturally going to form couples.”
Even though they both work together in the same department, it isn’t a claustrophobic relationship for them, because they rarely have time to talk to each other during the workday, Escobedo said.
“This is the first year we have had offices right next to each other, but he still calls usually instead of walking over,” Quitslund, who is also the chair of faculty senate, said.
The main concerns of spouses working together are the possibilities of things turning sour after they break up or the spouses creating voting blocs on faculty committees, Escobedo said.
“Spousal hire is a controversial issue, but we are much more involved with the community as a couple than we would otherwise be, partly because of our children,” Escobedo said. “But we also have an extra affection for the institution because we’re able to do the jobs we want to do and live together.”
The university is making efforts to advertise to potential faculty members that are married and recognizes the advantages and disadvantages of living in Athens. One of the efforts to advertise more broadly comes with the Higher Education Recruitment Consortium, Associate Provost for Faculty and Academic Planning Howard Dewald said.
Through the consortium, OU can team up with other universities that are hiring around the area so that if there are openings in each of the spouses’ fields, they could live midway between the universities and may be more likely to stay longer at each university, Dewald said.
“I probably wouldn’t have come to Athens if I wasn’t married to my wife,” Barsamian said. “I would have stayed closer to friends and family. I like Athens and it’s a great place to raise a family, but it is too isolated for me otherwise.”
@KyraCobbie
kc036114@ohio.edu
