FAU & Beyond
Best of 2015
School
Best Professor
Rate My Professors has a top-rated professor at FAU, and she had no idea. Story by Andrew Fraieli
“M
y number one goal is for my students to leave a better person. I’m trying to get them to be more caring and compassionate people,” said senior instructor of sociology Gina Carreno-Lukasik, the best professor at Florida Atlantic according to Rate My Professors. Rate My Professors is a website that allows students to grade professors on their helpfulness, easiness and clarity. The sociological perspectives, human sexuality and social change professor has 311 ratings as of Nov. 18, the highest number of reviews of any FAU teacher. “I didn’t know I was the absolute highest. I’m not good at compliments. It’s scary. I’m kidding; it’s very nice. Students are nice,” said Carreno-Lukasik. “That’s nice to know. I’m slightly embarrassed.” Since the start of her Rate My Professors page in 2002, Carreno-Lukasik has yet to receive a bad review. “THE BEST TEACHER I HAVE EVER HAD,” “She has made me want at least a minor in sociology” and “I would love to start a fan club for Gina,” are just a few of the comments previous students have made. Past students particularly liked her jokes. “Jokes? Makes me sound like a comedian, a wanna-be comedian,” said CarrenoLukasik, laughing. “I do try to use humor, it’s my personality.” She explained that she uses “lots of examples and tell tons of stories” because “sociology is real-life; it’s relatable.” Carreno-Lukasik welcomes any comments and takes what students have to say seriously. She said, “I know most people in my class don’t want to be sociology majors, but me personally, I want them to leave college better people. And college should be fun, so I try to do that as well.”
Highest Paid Professor
There are many high paid professors at FAU, but most don’t teach. Story by Andrew Fraieli
I
f you were hoping that your favorite professor — like the one that finally made math intriguing, or the one that stayed after class for hours to help you understand something — is the highest paid in the school, you’d be wrong. The highest paid professor at Florida Atlantic is David Bjorkman, the dean of FAU’s College of Medicine, making $463,726 per year, but he doesn’t teach any classes. For comparison, he could pay for ten in-state master’s degrees every year with his salary. According to Florida’s Right To Know — an online public database of state salaries — the highest salary at FAU is $500,000, belonging to head football coach Charlie Partridge. Bjorkman is right below him. Although Bjorkman’s title is dean, he is listed as professor in the database and according to FAU’s website, “his responsibilities include providing the highest quality educational experience for physicians in training.” But, his name has not been listed as instructor under a single class in FAU’s online departmental schedule since 2007 — as far back as the online schedule goes. The next highest paid professor in the database that actually teaches classes is Morton Levitt. His name comes after six professors and associate professors,”including a second athletic coach — who’s paid $325,000. Levitt is a professor of clinical biomedical science, earning $215,117 per year. The last class taught by him was fundamental general pathology for graduate students in the summer of 2015. Looking at other schools within the state university system, the highest paid professor at the University of Florida is William Friedman, the director of the Preston Wells Center for Brain Tumor Therapy. He makes $961,281 per year. The highest paid “professor” at the University of Central Florida is the dean of medicine, Deborah German; her salary is $541,402. Highest paid at Florida State University is the general surgery residency program director, Wade Douglas — earning $450,000 per year. In a similar trend to FAU, these are all deans of colleges or directors of programs. According to job descriptions found on the university websites, the majority don’t teach classes as part of their responsibilities. Rather than being a teacher inspiring students while toting piles of papers, the highest paid “professors” at FAU turn out to be managers and deans who can afford Mercedes and BMWs.
Proud vegetarian, Gina Carreno-Lukasik stands in front of her office door. Photo By Andrew Fraieli 11.24.2015 University Press 17