President Louis Caldera's wife joins UNM as a faculty member today.
Under section 6.9 of the University's recruitment and hiring policy that allows spousal hiring, Eva Caldera was appointed associate director of the Health Sciences Center for Ethics. She will also be a research professor at the School of Law.
Her part-time position pays $50,000 a year.
Susan Carkeek, vice president of human resources, said the policy helps the University retain faculty and administration.
She said UNM is the only institution of higher education in Albuquerque where dual-career couples can be hired.
"It's a standard process for us," Carkeek said.
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She said the policy allows Eva Caldera's appointment to be non-competitive. There were no other candidates for the position, and a national search was not required.
The policy allows for positions at the University to be filled by a spouse or domestic partner if they are qualified for the position. The appointment also requires approval from the hiring department.
Anne Simpson, the new director of the institute, said a recent turnover at the institute left her filling the director's shoes.
She said she needed someone to work beside her and couldn't think of a more qualified candidate than Caldera.
"To have someone trained as an attorney to work with me, a physician, is invaluable," Simpson said.
Caldera's position will include assisting in the expansion of the institute and shifting its focus from research to education and service.
Simpson said this will include helping people work through ethical dilemmas, integrating ethics into New Mexico schools systems, and getting ethics taught at the Health Sciences Center.
"I'm thrilled to have her," Simpson said.
Caldera will also be teaching a bioethics class at the UNM School of Law.
"It's an area we've always hoped to have someone with this expertise teaching," said Suellyn Scarnecchia, dean of the school.
Bioethics refers to ethics related to biology and medicine.
Robert Schwartz, associate dean of UNM's law school, said bioethics is a popular subject, but is only offered every other year at the school.
"We're lucky to have Caldera," Schwartz said. "Otherwise we wouldn't be able to offer the class."
He said he hopes the class will be successful and have a strong student following.
The Calderas declined to comment on Eva's new position.
Eva Caldera graduated from Harvard Law School in 1989.
According to her rÇsumÇ, she worked for law firms in Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles from 1989 to 1997, received a certificate in Health Care Ethics from the UNM Health Sciences Center Institute of Ethics, and completed a bioethics course at the Kennedy Ethics Institute at Georgetown University.
