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Board of Governors chancellor Rosenberg resigns

By Donna Winchester, Times Staff Writer
In print: Tuesday, September 23, 2008

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Three years after being chosen as head of the board that oversees Florida's state university system, chancellor Mark B. Rosenberg has resigned.

Rosenberg announced Monday that he will return to the faculty at Florida International University in February, having served as chancellor a year longer than he had planned.

"I committed to two years, and then I stayed a third," said Rosenberg, a political scientist and expert on Latin America. "I just think it's time."

Board of Governors chairwoman Sheila McDevitt said Rosenberg's decision did not come as a complete surprise. Recruited by the board in October 2005 after a search failed to produce what board members were looking for, Rosenberg made it clear from the start that he was there for the short term, McDevitt said.

"We talked about it last week, and he told me this was the time line he had in mind," she said. "We decided to go ahead and announce it so we could get a search going."

Despite ongoing budget challenges, McDevitt said she thinks it may be easier to find a chancellor now than it was three years ago.

"At that time we were very much a new board," she said. "We have more stability in our system of governance now."

McDevitt said the board could begin discussing the replacement process as early as Thursday, when it meets at the University of South Florida for a regularly scheduled meeting.

Looking back over the past three years, Rosenberg said he's pleased with the progress Florida's university system has made. Among the high points: the launch of a strategic plan titled Forward by Design and the forging of relationships with the business and economic development communities.

Just as noteworthy, Rosenberg said, has been an improved relationship with the Governor's Office.

"The Legislature is much more open to finding ways to ensure that the university system can improve quality and expand access," he said. "I think we're on the cusp of finding solutions that will help Florida families in both of those areas."

Still, the next legislative session is likely to be difficult. Florida's 11 public universities suffered millions in budget cuts in the last session and continue to reel from the effects, even as they brace for future cuts.

Rosenberg said he will continue to lobby the Legislature for increased funding for higher education over the next four months.

"We understand it will be difficult to get what we want, but my response is to make sure there is understanding about what our needs are," he said. "That's what I'm going to do until I walk out of here. I'm committed to that."

Donna Winchester can be reached at winchester@sptimes.com or (727) 893-8413.