<p>Spousal hires are not unusual at public colleges if the University of Wisconsin is an example. I also note that when another state university, Rutgers, hired Richard McCormick away from the University of Washington his spouse came with him. She is a national expert on women's history and like him, had previously been a member of the Rutgers history department.</p>
<p>As an aside, at flagship state universities, like those two mentioned above, most of the money does not come from the state.</p>
<p>This is an excerpt from today's Chronicle of Higher Education on the suicide. The Chronicle requires a subscription.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Ms. Denton had begun to fear for her safety, according to news reports. She may have had good reason. On several occasions last year, groups of people had tried to spend the night on her property, once requiring Ms. Denton to "negotiate intensely" before they would leave. A window in her office was broken last year. And, at 3 a.m. one day last June, a parking barricade was used to break her bedroom window. (Those incidents were outlined in a message to staff members from the campus's provost last fall.)
<p>TheDad, I don't know what the $ amount is for the salary range for a chancellor at UCSC. I understand that UCSC has to be competitive with other state universities with similar enrollment to be able to recruit someone deemed qualified to manage a growing campus amidst hostile town-gown relationship. However, Denton was hired with a package that was in violation of UC hiring policy. That was the impetus for all the "animus" directed at Denton, not by the board of regents , but by the students themselves. She was physically confronted several times on campus and she felt threatened. She left campus and was not present at the commencement exercises two weeks ago.</p>
<p>I should hope that any future hirings of top executives by our UCs however creative their pay packages are, should be within guidelines.</p>
<p>"spousal support"??? I guess people here really mean "significant other" support. I don't know if this affects the 'customary' compensation packages people on this thread are referring to but I suppose it could depending on UCSC's policies.</p>
<p>A university which wants to hire someone will need to meet the desiderata of that person. Whether that person has a spouse or a significant other is besides the point--which is that the person will be coming or not.
If you ask department heads these days, the biggest headache is caused by dual career couples or couples who have children whom they do not wish to yank out of their present school. And it's not just at the tenured prof level, either, but all the way down to the starting assistant prof.</p>
<p>
[quote]
"spousal support"??? I guess people here really mean "significant other" support.
[/quote]
I think "domestic partner" is the correct term since they had been together nine years and they couldn't legally become "spousal" even if they had wanted to.</p>
<p>I read that she was a shy person, perhaps a stereotypical engineer in that way, and unprepared for the public attention that goes with being a chancellor as opposed to a dean. But there was obviously some deep disturbance here, for her to take her life rather than just to resign. It doesn't sound as if it was any one factor.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I read that she was a shy person, perhaps a stereotypical engineer in that way, and unprepared for the public attention that goes with being a chancellor as opposed to a dean.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I think she got a lot more than the "public attention" than normally goes with being a chancellor.</p>
<p>Campus protestors threw a parking barricade through a plate glass window of her home while she was in it (fortunately in another room.) </p>
<p>She was highly visible and under attack both from the right (because of her sexual orientation) and from the left (because of campus protests over military recruiting on campus and labor tensions stemming from accumulated grievances since rank-and-file employees had not gotten pay raises for years.)</p>
<p>In addition, she apparently had a history of severe thyroid problems stemming from removal of a cancerous thyroid decades ago. (It is well established that thyroid problems can cause serious psychiatric as well as physical medical problems.)</p>