On Thursday, the Board of Governors will approve Adam Hasner as the next president of Florida Atlantic University. They also will approve Hasner’s lucrative five-year contract.
As I had reported, the deal will amount to a seven-figure compensation for someone with no experience in higher education—Hasner will get a base salary of $875,000, of which only $200,000 will come directly from the university. The rest must come from the FAU Foundation, the university’s fundraising organization.
In addition, Hasner will receive $100,000 a year toward a retirement plan. He will be eligible for an annual bonus of $150,000 if the trustees rate him “exceptional” or “outstanding” in their evaluation. That comes to $1,125,000 in direct compensation, even as Hasner stated during his interviews that faculty members are underpaid.
Hasner will be eligible for annual 3% raises; that would be $26,250 in the first year. He will get $30,000 to move his belongings from Boca Bath and Tennis Club to the Eleanor Baldwin House on campus, about five miles. He will get a monthly car allowance of $1,165.
And though Hasner repeatedly said he would “hit the ground running on Day One” in full devotion to FAU, he will be able to make money beyond the campus. According to the contract, Hasner can spend “reasonable amounts of time for personal or outside businesses” if Hasner or the trustees “deem it appropriate for the interests, needs, business or opportunities of the University.” Hasner would need approval to, say, serve on a corporate board, but he could keep any money that goes with outside work.
If the board fired him for “just cause,” he would get his salary prorated through the date of termination and all unpaid benefits through that date. If the trustees fired him without cause, he would get 20 weeks’ severance, or about $337,000.
For perspective, Interim President Stacy Volnick is making roughly $550,000, having held the job for more than two years while the university went through a contentious process of selecting a new president, including influence from Gov. Ron DeSantis and his selections of Republican state legislators. Volnick got a $100,000 bonus in 2024, based on her evaluation of “exceptional.” Under her contract, Volnick can return to her old job, chief operating officer, at a salary of $450,000.
I’ll have more after the Board of Governors meeting.
Finding order in Delray Beach commission meetings
The subject of today’s Delray Beach City Commission workshop meeting is “Robert’s Rules of Order.” Period.
Most people are familiar with what the Robert’s website correctly calls “American’s foremost guide to parliamentary procedure.” It details how public officials should conduct themselves during meetings.
One might assume that candidates would have familiarized themselves with the rules before taking office or simply would practice common courtesy. Delray Beach being Delray Beach, however, this assumption isn’t necessarily so.
Mayor Tom Carney asked for the 3:30 p.m. meeting. Carney told me last week, “It’s not productive,” when commissioners bring up items that are not on the agenda and other commissioners don’t have the same information and can’t ask “substantive questions.” If the issue is that important, Carney said, a commissioner should ask that it go on an agenda.
Though Carney said, “Everyone is guilty of interrupting” during meetings, anyone who follows Delray Beach closely knows that this workshop is probably aimed at one person: Commissioner Juli Casale. No one interrupts more or takes greater offense at being interrupted. No one brings up more non-agenda items. No one berates staff more than Casale.
The damage goes beyond needlessly prolonging meetings. Casale made former Chief Financial Officer Hugh Dunkley her target so often that he quit, seeking shelter at the Solid Waste Authority. It didn’t matter that Casale’s badgering never revealed wrongdoing or mismanagement.
And during one recent meeting, Casale asked several questions about the city’s liability from the Dec. 28 collision between a Brightline train and a city ladder truck that had driven around the crossing gates. Carney and then City Attorney Lynn Gelin reminded Casale that such questions were more appropriate for closed-door sessions with the city’s legal team.
“I’m not trying to stifle comment,” Carney said. If Casale doesn’t take the hint from the workshop, however, he will have to take a firmer hand during meetings.
A new ladder truck for Delray
Speaking of the Brightline collision, on the agenda for today’s regular commission meeting is a budget item to buy a replacement ladder truck. The cost is roughly $1.5 million.
Four external investigations of the crash are ongoing.
Gelin aces annual review
Gelin, Delray Beach’s city attorney, got raves from the commission during her annual review two weeks ago.
Carney rated Gelin “outstanding” in 10 of 11 categories, leaving one blank. He recommended that Gelin “strive to work more closely” with City Manager Terrence Moore and “ask to be immediately recognized when the city is being put in legal jeopardy.” See earlier comment about Casale.
Commissioner Rob Long gave Gelin an “outstanding” across the board. “I can always rely on her judgement (sic),” Long said. Casale rated her “outstanding” in all categories except Responsiveness, claiming that Gelin could do more to expedite public records requests.
Commissioner Thomas Markert, who with 11 months of service has the least experience on the commission, gave Gelin seven “outstandings” and four “exceeds expectations.” He cited the Brightline discussion as a reason for Gelin to speak up sooner. Commissioner Angela Burns gave her two “outstandings,” eight “exceeds expectations” and one “meets expectations,” for Public Meetings. Burns sounded the same theme, asking Gelin to “minimize unnecessary commenting or potentially harmful discussions.”
Gelin and Moore are the only employees who report to the commission. Gelin has been city attorney since November 2018, when then-Mayor Shelly Petrolia engineered the firing of then-City Attorney Max Lohman without the item being on the agenda. Petrolia, Casale’s mentor, often showed the same disregard for Robert’s Rules of Order.
FAU nursing licensure exams
Speaking of FAU, there may be more progress toward raising the rate of nursing graduates passing their licensure exams on the first try.
Last June, when FAU went before the Board of Governors for its annual review, the board noted rates that were lower than the 86% that FAU set out in its accountability plan. School officials said change was coming, and that the rate for the first quarter of 2024 was 93%.
The most recent rate listed on the school’s website for the Boca Raton campus is 94.1%. The test is offered throughout the year. One can assume that the issue will be a point of discussion this June.
Checking in on Dusty May
Still speaking of FAU, former Men’s Basketball Coach Dusty May is thriving at Michigan.
May spent one year in Boca Raton after taking the Owls to the Final Four in 2023. In the preseason media poll, the Wolverines were picked to finish ninth in the 18-member Big 10. Expansion has rendered the conference name meaningless.
Instead, Michigan leads the Big 10 with a 12-2 conference record and is ranked 12th nationally. And there’s more of an FAU influence on the team than May. The Wolverines’ leading scorer is Vladislav Goldin, who transferred to keep playing with May.
