Colorado State University is committed to advancing the ranks of outstanding faculty by facilitating the career success of accompanying spouses and partners. In today’s world of career-driven citizens, it is very common for our most promising candidates for faculty positions to have a highly trained, professional partner who is seeking a fulfilling position in Northern Colorado as well. We are fortunate to have a strong local economy that includes a plethora of business opportunities in our region. Our aim in the Provost’s Office is to facilitate contact with appropriate employers and, for those with aspirations for an academic position, to help explore a range of possibilities to find a suitable position in academia in Northern Colorado.

Our services are available to spouses or partners of current or new tenure-track and tenured faculty. We also provide support for incoming CSU administrative leaders.

We provide assistance with:

• Contacting potential employers in the Northern Colorado region
• Exploring faculty positions at CSU and other Northern Colorado institutions
• Exploring non-faculty employment at CSU and other institutions
• Developing effective application materials

The aim of the dual career program at CSU is to provide a central resource that facilitates effective career searches for the spouses and partners of current and future faculty at CSU. While we hope for the best outcomes, we can not guarantee success.

For questions and help in initiating our assistance in a dual career job search, please contact Sue James, Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs, by emailing [email protected] or calling 970-491-0212.

Academic Partners:

Accompanying academic partners are often looking for professional opportunities at CSU. There are a variety of options in helping these individuals depending on their backgrounds and available resources on campus. These options include but aren’t limited to: 1) looking for and facilitating the acquisition of an administrative professional or other position on campus, 2) hiring the individual into a special faculty appointment position that may focus on teaching and/or research, and 3) hiring this person directly into a tenure-track position.

A special, non-tenure-track faculty position may be an end in itself or a short term (one to several years) position on a pathway to a later tenure-track position IF the necessary resources and departmental support come together at a later date. While this has been successful many times, acquiring the necessary future funding and other support does not always fall into place. 

Hiring an accompanying partner into a tenure-track position requires several steps and some stars aligning with timing and resources. Once the initial hiring department becomes aware there is an accompanying academic, they should request an up-to-date CV from that person and determine what department on campus might be an appropriate fit. This is the right time to let the dean of the college or the target hiring department know about this aspect of the hire. The chair of the initial hiring department then contacts the chair of the target department and informs that person of the dual career challenge and passes the CV on to that person. The chair of the target department reviews the CV for the suitability of that person’s area of expertise and achievements as a possible tenure-track faculty member. If there is promise, the chair may then share the CV among faculty to gauge support for hiring the partner and bring the dean of the college into the conversation. If there is support and interest from both departments and colleges, the Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs should be brought into the loop.