He resigned as president amid allegations. He’s returning to FIU with a slight pay cut
After abruptly resigning when a woman who worked in his office accused him of misconduct, former President Mark Rosenberg will return to Florida International University in the spring semester, earning about $377,000 to teach one class per semester.
Rosenberg, 73, has been on a one-year paid sabbatical since resigning at the end of January, continuing to collect his $502,578 salary. When he starts teaching his class in January, his pay will drop to $376,933, or more than twice the $153,142 average annual salary for a tenured professor in FIU’s Steven J. Green School of International & Public Affairs, where Rosenberg will teach.
Rosenberg had to undergo sexual harassment training and meet with the FIU Title IX coordinator to review university policies on sexual harassment, sexual misconduct and other topics. He must repeat the training and review the policies every year.
He quit as FIU’s fifth president, a position he had held since 2009, earlier this year after a young woman who worked with him in the president’s office alleged Rosenberg made unwanted advances to her over several months.
Kenneth Jessell, named interim president in January after Rosenberg resigned, is geared up to become the university’s sixth president.
Earlier this year, Rosenberg said he had “unintentionally created emotional [not physical] entanglement” with an FIU employee and apologized: “I take full responsibility and regret my actions.”
“I’ve obviously done a lot of reflection during my sabbatical,” Rosenberg told the Herald on Wednesday. “And I’m excited to be coming back. I have a lot of appreciation for the university and the people who work there.”‘
‘I’m fallible’
Because Rosenberg resigned in good standing, his contract allowed him to return as a tenured professor. He started at FIU in 1976 as an assistant professor of political science, four years after the university opened in southwest Miami-Dade.
The FIU Board of Trustees left it up to the FIU Faculty Advisory Board — comprised of the vice provost for faculty leadership and success, the associate provost for academic planning and finance, the director of employee and labor relations, the associate director of employee and labor relations and FIU’s deputy general counsel — to review an independent investigation report released in March. The advisory board signed off on his return.
“I’m like most human beings; I’m fallible,” Rosenberg said Wednesday. “Fortunately it’s not a pattern. It’s not routine, it’s not me. It wasn’t me. And I’m certainly regretting it, it’s not like I’m not. If anything I’m angry at myself for not being the perfection that we all strive for.
“This is my community. This is the community’s university. And I’m hopeful that it will judge me on the body of work and the commitment, and if they don’t, I understand that.”
As his contract stipulates, FIU will pay him an annual salary of $376,933.97 for up to three years to teach one class per semester. He can also receive an annual $30,000 research stipend.
After the three-year appointment, he can renegotiate his salary and workload.
“I feel that I worked for that, and I earned it, and I’m going to continue to earn it,” Rosenberg told the Herald on Wednesday. “Now, that doesn’t mean I don’t want other salaries to be higher. The professoriate can be better rewarded for their accomplishments.
READ MORE: From assistant professor to president: A look at Mark Rosenberg’s four decades at FIU
“I feel that the university will get a lot of value out of my presence, and I feel the community will as well,” Rosenberg added. “I respect my colleagues, and I’m going to try to help them as much as I can.”
Deanne Butchey, a finance professor at FIU and the chair of the FIU Faculty Senate, declined to comment Wednesday about Rosenberg’s return.
Martha Meyer, president of the local chapter of United Faculty of Florida, the faculty union, didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment from the Herald.
Student body president’s perspective
FIU’s Student Body President Cristhofer Lugo said he trusts the process and its conclusion.
“I respect what the faculty decided. They looked at the facts. They were able to dive deep, and if they felt he should return, who am I a student to say ‘Hey, you’re wrong,’ ” he said. “They have way more information than we see from the surface as students, and I do trust the level of investigation they put in.”
He doesn’t know the specifics under which Rosenberg will come back, but said he hopes students won’t be forced to take a class with Rosenberg.
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“We don’t want to put our students in a place where they feel uncomfortable,” Lugo said.
Team-teaching the class
Rosenberg will be “team-teaching” a class called “Politics of Latin America,” an elective that may be used to fulfill a university core curriculum requirement, but many other classes do as well, FIU spokeswoman Maydel Santana said in an email to the Herald.
Rosenberg said he’s open to discussing with students what happened earlier this year.
“I can assure you, if there’s curiosity, I’ll be direct,” he said. “I stepped up. I was the one who went to the board with it, so why wouldn’t I be as candid and as truthful as I could be, as long as it’s appropriate?”
He also said he hopes to share with students mental health and other lessons he learned.
In January, Rosenberg said his mental health had been impacted by the pressure of caring for Rosalie, his wife of many years who has advanced dementia. He said her condition had worsened in recent months and that led to the incident with the employee.
Asked what he’d tell students who feel hesitant about taking his class, Rosenberg said: “They’re entitled to their views, and I respect them. I would ask them to have an open mind. I would ask them if they’ve had situations before that have been difficult. I would listen very carefully to them.
“They’re free not to take my classes. But I feel confident more students will recognize the value and will want to take my classes. I’m going to give every student my best.”
