When UCLA’s new chancellor is hired in the coming weeks, the university may be gaining more than one new employee.

The University of California and many other higher education institutions often offer positions for the spouses or partners of academics being recruited for high-level administrative positions.

Of the UC’s 10 campuses, three of the chancellors have spouses or partners who were offered positions at the university as part of their recruitment package.

Though Robin Carnesale, wife of UCLA Chancellor Albert Carnesale, is not employed by UCLA, she does hold the title “associate of the chancellor,” which was appointed by the UC Office of the President as recognition of her contributions to the university. The position also offers her some of the same benefits as employment.

Assistance in job placement or the hiring of spouses of academics has long been a part of the recruiting process at American universities, alongside salary increases and sizeable relocation and housing assistance packages.

Given that between 35 percent and 40 percent of university faculty have partners who are also academics, according to the 1997 National Faculty Survey, universities are likely to have a larger degree of spousal hiring than other employers, simply because of the large pool of candidates.

However, during tense times of budget cuts and hiring freezes, the hiring of chancellors’ partners, especially to positions created for them, has sparked public outcry, most recently at UC Santa Cruz.

The UC does not have any specific policies pertaining to the hiring of chancellors’ spouses or partners, said Paul Schwartz, a spokesman for the UC Office of the President. The hiring of a chancellor’s spouse or domestic partner falls under the systemwide guidelines for the hiring of near relatives within the same department.

According to the guidelines, near relatives may be hired “when such concurrent employment would be best in the interests of the university.” Near relatives include spouses, parents, children, siblings, step relatives and in-laws.

The hiring of near relatives is done on a case-by-case basis, and must be approved by the university’s chancellor and noted in the hiring process. But there are no guidelines for approval of the chancellor’s own near relatives.

Denice Denton was appointed the ninth chancellor of UC Santa Cruz by the UC Board of Regents on December 14, 2004. A little over a month later, the UCOP announced that it had created a new position, the director of international strategy development. Denton’s longtime partner, Gretchen Kalonji, was appointed to fill the position.

According to her job description, Kalonji’s responsibilities include working toward “new models for the effective internationalization of higher education” and forming new partnerships worldwide to increase the research capacity of the UC.

In addition to the UCOP position, with its salary of $192,000 a year, Kalonji was also expected to receive a tenured professorship at a UC campus sometime in the future. Kalonji was formerly an endowed professor of materials science at the University of Washington, where Denton was the dean of the College of Engineering.

According to the UCOP press release, UC President Robert Dynes and former Provost MRC Greenwood “became aware of Kalonji’s work” during the UC Santa Cruz chancellor search and “it was clear to them that this was the case of the right scholar emerging at the right time for the University of California.”

MRC Greenwood, a former UC Santa Cruz chancellor herself, stepped down from her position as provost in November, amid an investigation of a conflict of interest in the hiring of her former real estate partner for a management position.

Students and campus unions gathered outside Denton’s office on her first day protesting Kalonji’s hiring, which came in the aftermath of the state budget crisis in which the UC was taking serious cuts and raising student fees significantly.

A number of campus unions involved in the protest called attention to the fact that Kalonji’s hiring came at a time when most of the campus’s staff did not make a living wage, according to the local chapter of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

UCOP defended Kalonji’s appointment, saying that she was highly qualified for the position and “has a remarkable track record in developing creative approaches to internationalization and to transformation of science and engineering education” in a 2005 press release.

Other hirings in the past few years such as that of James Whitesell, husband of UC San Diego Chancellor Marye Ann Fox, as a tenured professor of chemistry and biochemistry, have not sparked the same reaction from the public.

Other spouses of UC chancellors are not employed in an academic capacity, but carry a title meant to recognize their contributions to the university, according to UC policy.

Robin Carnesale of UCLA and Dilling Yang, wife of UC Santa Barbara Chancellor Henry Yang, carry the title of associate of the chancellor.

The appointment “is intended to reflect and recognize the contributions to the university” of spouses when acting on the university’s behalf at community and campus events, and especially in fundraising, according to UCOP policy.

While the position is unpaid, the official title grants the spouse of the chancellor a direct tie to the university and many of the same benefits as direct employment. Benefits include travel reimbursement; access to university facilities, such as recreation centers and campus parking facilities; and workers’ compensation coverage if the spouse was to be injured while on university business.

In a recent interview, Albert Carnesale told the Bruin that his wife became “instantly deeply engaged in UCLA activities” after they married in 2002.

The designation was first created for Sue Young, wife of former UCLA Chancellor Charles Young. Young served as chancellor from 1968 to 1997, during which he and his wife campaigned heavily for the recognition of a chancellor’s spouse’s contributions in academic leadership.

With reports from Bruin wire services.