One-on-one with President-elect Michael Rao

On Thursday, March 5, Michael Rao invited The Commonwealth Times to sit down for our first exclusive interview with the President-elect. Rao is the current president of Central Michigan University but will replace President Eugene P. Trani on July 1.

Q. The Commonwealth Times: Do you plan to continue the kind of projects that President Trani started or do you plan to take things in a different direction?

A. Michael Rao: You know, I think it’s too soon to really understand what the greatest needs and priorities are of the university, which is why I’m doing what I’m doing. My focus will be to try and get a feel for what people really most value and what they really believe will be the most important priorities of the university and the sense that I’m getting, although it’s really preliminary, but one of the senses that I’m getting is that I think that there’s a real interest in looking in the human info structure and how people will connect.

When I talk about connect, I mean of course there’s a connection between faculty and students.

Rao said that resources available at VCU are a very important aspect that requires attention.

Rao: You really also want to always be looking at what is the quality of interaction too. Buildings are one thing but our mission is not just about buildings. Our mission is obviously people. The spaces that they learn in are valuable and very important and continue to be watched very carefully. So will the existing facilities.

One of the things I have to know a little bit more about, I don’t have enough of a feel for, is where the university stands in terms of its total capacity.

More importantly, what you want to do is you want academic programs and activities and learning styles to drive those things. You don’t want to build something and say ‘well build it and they will come.’

In addition to that, technology I think is just going to continue to catalyze dramatically.

Q. The CT: How would you view your roll at Central Michigan University versus what your roll will be at VCU?

A. Rao: I think some of that I am just beginning to learn and unfold as I learn more about what the environment needs more.

There is no question that I see great opportunity here as I did there (CMU) and continue to in both places to expand the private sources of giving that come into the university from donors who really just want for the right reasons to see the mission of the university advance, who really care about what we are trying to do to transform and change lives.

We have a great story to tell and it’s important sometimes that, at some levels, that the president tell that story to people who have the greatest capacity to give.

We really ought to be a little farther ahead in terms of research resources and a lot of those come from the federal government. There is no question that Congress and certainly the leadership in D.C. will want to occasionally at least see the president so there will be some investment there.

The other area of investment will focus on integrated planning. That integrated planning will be important because you have the MCV Campus and you have the Monroe Park Campus and I think that each has a lot that they can lend to the other. I don’t know everyone feels that that has gone or where it stands but I think there’s a real opportunity there.

Q. The CT: Would you say that it was the increased resources at VCU that made you want to come here? What would you say was the primary reason?

A. Rao: No, absolutely not, because that is something that would exist anywhere. One of the things that interested me is very personal, my family. One of the opportunities that is in this for them is that this is a more diverse community for us to live. I think that is a really valuable part of life. I am excited to expose my sons to an environment like this where there are many different people from many different places and the proportion of diversity is much higher.

It’s also a challenge though because I have the impression that there is some work that can be done at the university in terms of advancing diversity. I look forward to that challenge. The advancement of diversity in an environment like this is up to a lot of people, not just me. I’m pushing it because I think it’s right.

Q. The CT: There has been some concern around campus with your salary. What would be your response to those kinds of concerns?

A. Rao: I think that the market for presidents is where it is because it has become such a difficult job. It isn’t the simple king or queen philosopher who is sitting in a position where they’re spending time talking about solely academic matters. What you are doing, you’re becoming a very important part of the resource base, you’re becoming an important part of raising funds. Your responsibilities are greater, the stakes are definitely much higher, the risk is much greater than it’s ever been. I understand the concern but I also know that really no matter who your president is I don’t really think that it’s going to be much different.

I simply recognize that the market is what the market is and I view it as something that gives me more resources to give perhaps, but it is a market for a reason and I live it everyday and recognize that when you give your life up, which is for the most part what a university president has to do, and you take the kind of risk that we take, there is some reward that comes with that. I have heard the concerns and understand them and will continue to be thoughtful of those.