FRIDAY,APRIL18.2003
NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 5A
Hard for spouses to find positions together at University
By AmyPotter apotter@kansan.com Kansas staff writer
Byron and Marta Caminero-Santangelo consider themselves lucky. They are assistant professors in the department of English at the University of Kansas, and they are married.
It can be a daunting task for married couples to find teaching jobs at the same university. The University offered a miracle solution for the Caminero-Santangelos when it hired them both to work in same department.
"There was a potential for sacrifice, but it turned out not to be the case." Marta Caminero-San
tangelo said, "KU offered us both a job."
both a leon McCluskey-Fawcett, senior vice provost, hires faculty for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. She said the University was "pretty couple-friendly."
She said that early in the recruiting process, the University tried to find out whether a candidate had a partner, so it could begin to make hiring accommodations in other departments for the spouse.
"The hard part is when you make someone an offer, and they say they can't come unless you find something for my spouse," McCluskey-Fawcett said. McCluskey-Fawcett said she was seeing more need for
partner accommodations within universities.
The University has a policy that outlines accommodation guidelines for spouses.
According to the policy, the accommodation rests on the flexibility and good will of faculty and administrators. The policy covers both same-sex and heterosexual couples.
Unfortunately, hiring the spouse doesn't always work out. Sometimes, the deans and department chairpersons do not need a person in his or her area of specialty, McCluskey-Fawcett said.
If positions aren't open at the University, it will ask other area schools in Kansas City, Ottawa or
Baldwin to see whether they have any openings, she said.
Susan Gauch, associate professor in electrical engineering, said sometimes the couple had to decide whose career was more important.
Spousal accommodations at her husband's previous institution, Northeastern Illinois University, didn't work out. They gave her a couple of options: She could work at the local community college or find a job at a high school
edge of find a job.
"I didn't get my Ph.D. to teach community college and high school," Gauch said.
Gauch and her husband John are both associate professors in electrical engineering. They came to the University in 1993 because
there were faculty positions available for both of them.
Barbara and James Shortridge did their graduate work at the University in the 1960's. Barbara Shortridge is an assistant professor in geography and her husband is a professor in the same department at the University.
Her husband was hired after they both finished their doctorates, but Barbara was not. There were still nepotism laws in place — laws that would not allow married couples in the workplace.
"Yes, it was frustrating but what could I do about it?" Shortridge said. "It was really a different time then."
Five years ago, Shortridge was
given the position of assistant professor. During the years she wasn't teaching she would run labs and participate in various kinds of research.
"The reason I have my position was part of an initiative by the Provost to have more women and minorities in the classroom." Shortridge said.
McCluskey-Fawcett said there were probably a handful of faculty maintaining long-distance relationships with their spouses because they worked at other Universities.
"It's not a long-term plan. It's very hard to sustain that kind of life." McCluskey-Fawcett said.
Student finds knack for argument effective at mock trials
— Edited by Melissa Hermreck
By Megan Hickerson
mhickerson@kansan.com
Kansan staff member
Ryan Faulconer's parents have been telling him he'd make a good attorney since he was a little kid.
The Colorado Springs, Colo., sophomore decided to take their advice and refined his arguing skills. He just got back from the National Mock Trial Competition in Des Moines, Iowa. Faulconer is president of the mock trial team, which has been to the nationals in five of its six years in existence.
getting nervous at competitions.
Although he's been competing for five years, Faulconer admits to
Faulconer got involved in mock trial his sophomore year of high school and joined the University of Kansas team his freshman year.
"If you don't get nervous, there's probably something wrong with you," Faulconer said.
There are 20 students on the mock trial team, and seven of those 20 members went to nationals last week. During a competition, the members of the team are assigned a legal case that is going to trial. Three members of the team act as witnesses, and the other three act as attorneys. They then argue a fake trial. The seventh member is the team coach. Team members must be prepared to argue both the defense and plaintiff sides at competitions. Two teams compete on either side, and an impartial judge chooses the winner.
Because Faulconer and his mock trial coach, Branden Bell, are roommates, petty arguments
Bell, Lawrence first-year law student, has been a member of the team for the past three years. Because the team has never had a formal coach, Bell thought he would be an asset to the team.
"The team needed someone to make the decisions because we are all friends on the team," Bell said.
Members of the team sometimes have to hide smiles and grins during serious competitions. They take their work seriously and they have trophies to back them up. During nationals last week, Tai Vokins, Overland Park sophomore, was speaking
when a photographer interrupted him and began taking pictures of the final round. Vokins took the unexpected visitor in stride and worked him into the trial by introducing him to the judge as a member of the press.
often erupt between the two experienced debaters. As usual, the coach generally wins.
"I often just lose interest," Faulconer said. "Some things just aren't worth arguing about."
"I really had to fight not to smile," Faulconer said.
After he graduates with a degree in political science, Faulconer plans to go to law school just as his parents suspected. Stephen McAllister, law school dean, was impressed with Faulconer's reasoning skills when he taught him in a law and society class last year.
"Ryan pays so much attention to both sides," McAllister said. "He thinks critically before he makes decisions."
— Edited by Melissa Hermreck
Dan Nelson/Kansan
Ryan Faulconer, Colorado Springs, Colo., sophomore, flaunts a few of the trophies he received in mock trial competitions through the University of Kansas School of Law. Faulconer recently returned from the National Mock Trial Competition in Des Moines, Iowa.
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