Dating grad students in other departments

[dhilbert83]

Someone I know brought up a good question and I'd like the opinion of others on this. Is it OK for a new assistant professor (in the math dept.) to date a PhD student in another department (in this case Biology department.) I see nothing wrong since there'll never be a conflict of interest at all. I guess maybe it might look bad that faculty are

Comments

[jestingrabbit]

The issue with student/instructor relationships is the possibility of the abuse of a power relation. No such power relation exists here, so no problem. To get a more definitive response, you could bring it up with a more senior person at the school, or, better yet, admin staff that are familiar with the relevant policies.

[coleoptera]

You have to review the relevant policies of your entire institution (not just your department). Sometimes these policies can be frighteningly vague. Check with HR if you aren't convinced by text you find (or even if you are) - not with faculty.

Though it does seem a little unclear if you're asking if it's morally or technically acceptable to do this. Very different questions :) I'm focusing on an element of interest: 'new' assistant professor. If this person is t-t, then dating a student, phd, other department, otherwise, is not likely going to help that tenure case and more likely the opposite, and that's a strong issue to consider.