Standiford's students have included successful novelists Dennis Lehane, Barbara Parker, Vicki Hendricks, Ginny Rorby, and Neil Plakcy. While Chairman of the Creative Writing Program at University of Texas El Paso, "Standiford gave Raymond Carver his first job in 1976, when Carver was recovering from his infamous alcoholic crash and burn. The Standifords live in Miami, Florida and have two children, Hannah and Jeremy.