Marriage Counseling for Boards Alice S. Huang, Ph.D. [Published in Association of Governing Boards Trusteeship, August 1999] General Theme: A great resource for the university if properly appreciated and/or compensated The heavy demands made on chief executives of universities and colleges and the high turnover rates of these positions have generated much advice to governing boards on how to search, select, and attract the next president. An important but often neglected piece of this recruiting process is the candidate's spouse. The current environment creates a range of new opportunities for universities and presidential partners. The key to the future will be to find a way to tap the talents and experience of these "modern" partners for the benefit of the institution in a way that recognizes their personal choices and their professional portfolios. Search committees do little in the way of assessing the capabilities of the potential candidate's spouse. Some go so far as to ignore the partner, hoping that the personal relations between them will make everything work out. What often goes unsaid is the essential role that the spouse can play to contribute to the success of the chief executive. Aside from personal support, the presidential spouse could play a significant role because of personal identification with the president and the potential for representing the institution. If properly vetted and appreciated, the spouse can become an invaluable resource, not only personally for the chief executive, but for the university as well. Silence on these issues is further exacerbated because few academic spouses have any idea of what a president's partner actually does. Thus, a Search Committee should not always expect the candidate or the partner to ask what the expectations are for the role of "first lady" and expect them to negotiate knowledgeably for the level and number of staff support. If the institution's expectations are not discussed during the job search and adequate staff support is not provided, later on the unfortunate result is an overworked spouse who discovers belatedly that the university is consuming all of her time and energies. This can be made worse by the realization that she is running a household where there is little privacy for the president and herself. Moreover, a spouse is usually on new territory and feels friendless as well. Spouses will wonder why they ever left behind comfortable support systems to come to a new campus. The result is an unhappy spouse and an institution that has not taken advantage of an invaluable resource. From the board's perspective, the house is a major investment, in addition to its symbolic weight. The responsibilities that fall upon the spouse in her role as "first lady" are many. The president's wife is expected to run a gracious house and lovely garden that is open and welcoming to the academic community, including students, faculty wives, returning alumni, visiting trustees and potential donors. She is expected to be present at numerous institutional events with the president and serve as hostess at others. Other obligations often include honorary chair of auxiliary groups on campus and volunteer work in community service organizations. Even students, looking for advice and support, may seek her out for attention. Beyond campus and community obligations, there are the on-going demands of travel. The partner serves with the president as an ambassador for the institution and, in many cases, plays an important role in planning, preparation and successful execution of presidential travel obligations. To be sure, a spouse is accustomed to being a confidante, but a heavier than normal burden is placed on a university president's spouse who becomes the only safe person with whom confidences and opinions, both unvarnished and even impolitic, can be shared on a daily basis. No chief executive can function without support of this kind. In addition to household responsibilities and private support, the heavy fund-raising responsibilities of the president often places the partner in sensitive situations. It is to the benefit of the institution to encourage the partner to take an active role in helping the president with university outreach and development with the assistance of staff. Sometimes even some professional training in development would enhance the partner's natural sociability and help to sensitize the partner to opportunities in fund-raising. Intelligent deployment of a partner in such situations can add considerably to institutional development efforts. In these changing times, spouses are often more than wives and mothers. More than half of married women in the U. S. work outside the home, so that it is likely that current Presidents' spouses have held their own jobs. A recent survey indicated that almost two-thirds of current spouses of university presidents held professional, independent positions prior to their husbands becoming chief executives. Many are tenured professors in their own rights. Although some are willing to redirect their careers to assist the president and the institution, it should not surprise a search committee that some of these spouses, especially when not given specialized attention, would elect to continue their independent, professional lives leaving all the responsibilities of "first lady" to the president's or to the development staff of the university. Should they work for another institution of higher education, the chances of divided loyalties exist. However, given the general extensive experience that most spouses have accumulated during their years in academic communities, it could be extraordinarily beneficial to the president and the university to attract the spouse to take the job of being the president's partner seriously and to enable her to build upon her own previous professional or community experiences. This would focus the energies of both husband and wife to benefit only one institution. Indeed, maximizing the president's partner strengthens the chances for maximizing the president's success and tenure at the university. How can we maximize the president's partner? As the role of women in society has changed, we have a new generation of women coming into the role of "first lady" who expect to be compensated and recognized. Like men, their identities have been tied closely to their jobs and the status that jobs confer. Even more traditional women who have not held jobs outside the home, after experiencing the role of "first lady," now feel that the extra demands of the role make it reasonable to expect some sort of compensation or special recognition. While in the past instead of compensation, adequate support staff, reimbursement of expenses, and letters of appreciation may have been enough, today's environment calls for more concrete compensation and a thoughtful formal title for the partner. So far I have assumed that the spousal role is played by a wife. Certainly, women constitute the overwhelming majority of presidential spouses. However, increasingly women, as well as bachelors, are assuming presidential positions at some of the major universities. In some of these cases, in addition to the usual maids, gardeners, housekeepers, and caterers, universities have had to hire special assistants, household managers, social secretaries, and special events managers. When the expenses for all these additional personnel are considered, it becomes more than apparent that many "first ladies" who manage the president's house and plan for special events are overworked and underpaid. Moreover, these partners may be performing functions that underutilize their professional talents and significant experience in academic settings. It is essential then that these responsibilities of the "first lady" be discussed with the spouse prior to the actual hiring of the president. The university's Board of Trustees needs to prepare a position taking very seriously the important contributions that a spouse can make. The Board should be prepared to interview the spouse and agree on a clear job description. It should also provide adequate support staff and clarify the time commitment to university events. Aside from "first lady," a formal title solves many problems, especially for professionally experienced spouses. Special Assistant to the President is not only redundant but it shortens to SAP, which many partners find repugnant. Depending on the experience and seniority of the spouse, titles such as "Director," "Assistant Vice President," or "Senior Councilor" may be appropriate. To prevent any overlap with existing positions these titles may be further clarified by adding clauses such as "of Special Events," "for Development," "of Special Relations," or "for External Relations." Appropriate titles will make clear to the university community and to the outside world how the Board values the president's spouse. In addition, defining a university position for the spouse will clarify ambiguities in the tax law in relation to the treatment of spousal travel expenses. There is general agreement that the partner should not report directly to the president or be an integral part of the president's office staff. The job should be created by the Board with direct supervisory responsibility assigned to some other senior member of the administration. The Board should offer some sort of compensation to the spouse. It is better to have it declined than not to offer at all. Guides to deciding the amount that is offered depends on the previous salary of the spouse or on the going rate for a development officer of the institution. It is important to remember that the spouse's salary, benefits, and promotions should not be determined by the president. If it is appropriate for the institution, the salary should be determined by the Board or some senior administrator. Regardless of whether the partner is directly compensated or not, the Board needs to provide for support staff. Besides general housekeeping and yard work, a house manager and/or social secretary will make the position more manageable. Some Boards have been under the mistaken impression that nepotism concerns or the recently passed Intermediate Sanctions Act prevents compensating a presidential spouse. If the guidelines laid out in this article are followed, there should be nothing to prevent the Board from hiring the spouse at a compensation level that is reasonable and appropriate based on the duties and time commitment associated with the partner's position. An example of a job description for a professional spouse with experience in academia follows: "The Director for Special Institutional Relations is a new position established by the Trustees of the University. This position is responsible for assisting in the development and maintenance of the institution's relationship with key constituencies, including but not limited to alumni, faculty, students, parents and community leaders. The Director also provides experienced assistance to senior administration on special projects, and helps build long-term institutional capacity in relation to new and multidimensional programs. Representation of the university on special occasions and travel on university business is required. In addition, close coordination with the Offices for Development, for Alumni, and for Government Relations is necessary. Oversight for this position is provided by the Vice President for Institute Relations." In conclusion, some foresight and proper definition of the role of the president's spouse by the Board will go a long way to help insure the success of the incoming president. Maximizing the president's spouse as a valuable resource to the university can only reap many benefits for the institution.