The Foreign Service Journal, March 2003

Development and Assignments, which is not under the control of COMs, POs or DCMs, already solves the selection issue for direct-hire tandem spouses. HR/CDA also makes sure that someone outside of the embassy chain of command rates such tandem spouses, at least on paper. With a little creativity, the depart- ment could develop means to vet objectively the hiring and evaluation of COM/PO/DCM’s PSC/PIT spous- es, too. Just as PER/CDA’s role in the assignment process sidesteps the nepotism issue for tandems, so could an impeccably objective committee located away from the hiring post take the issue out of the COM’s, PO’s or DCM’s purview. A few possibilities: Perhaps each bureau’s executive office, or FLO or HR/OE, could establish a regional hiring committee to select the suc- cessful applicant when a COM, PO or DCM PSC/PIT spouse is involved. Perhaps that committee could pro- duce the pro-forma PSC/PIT annual evaluation based on relevant input received from post via classified e-mail. Or the PSC/PITs could sign a waiver stating that they release the department from any evaluation requirements. To be doubly sure that the mission is free from nepotism or the perception of nepotism, the embassy community could be confi- dentially polled before the PSC/PIT appointment of a COM/PO/DCM spouse, and re-polled periodically thereafter. Perhaps there could even be a special, dissent-type channel established for nepotism whistle- blowers. Or the department can continue with the current practice, and tell those old PITs and PSCs to just, well, bake off. Gina Wills has been a Foreign Service spouse for 30 years. 14 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / M A R C H 2 0 0 3 S P E A K I N G O U T