Spousal hire: best practices

Question

My department is conducting a search for a TT AP this year. One of our APs is already TT in the department. The spouse of that particular AP is an applicant for the position we have out. Our school does not have a formal policy regarding how to handle spousal hires. However, I wanted to add a question here regarding tips on how to handle any conflict of interest. Should/can the TT AP be part of the  interviewing process when the spouse applicant is on campus for interviews? Can they interview other applicants? Or should they entirely recuse themselves from the process?

Answer 1

They should entirely recuse themself.

By the way, I am a spousal hire.

Comments

I agree. They should not be involved in the hiring process at all.

Answer 2

Wondering what you did.  I would add that the legal counsel at my university would probably say the AP should entirely recuse themselves.