President Rao’s goals reflect commitment to students’ needs

Staff Editorial

When VCU President Michael Rao releases official statements or speaks to large groups, it seems students often find his rhetoric unappealing and the outlining of his goals confusing. It’s easy for a listener to get lost in the concept when there are so many objectives Rao is attempting to accomplish.

But when he speaks in specifics, his broad passion is narrowed and detail-oriented, and it’s obvious that he understands 21st century higher education.

President Rao spoke with The CT last week about the progress of the Quest for Distinction and what he hopes to accomplish and implement at VCU in the coming years.

He understands that VCU isn’t a business, that it isn’t a money-making venture. Rao believes that it’s his job to ensure that each VCU student has the best academic experience possible. He believes that student success extends far beyond what takes place inside the classroom and that it’s his personal responsibility to help students “become an older adult” while they’re here. While aiming for academic excellence is important to him, he also wants VCU to produce successful researchers, leaders and, in his words, “successful human beings.”

In the nearly two decades that Eugene Trani presided over the university, VCU expanded by leaps and bounds. New academic buildings and the redevelopment of Broad Street along with major increases in student enrollment propelled the university forward. It was exactly what VCU needed at the time.

The school’s needs have changed since the Trani era. Since Rao took over in 2009, he has proven that he understands those changes and knows what it takes to transform the university academically and culturally, to elevate it to the national perception of Virginia Tech and the University of Virginia.
Rao has continued Trani’s construction push, but he isn’t looking to expand the university in the same ways. Rao stated that, if it was possible, he thinks every freshman should be required to live on campus for a year.

He admits VCU can’t make that feasible just yet, but we can renovate and construct new residence halls to take steps in that direction. Rao believes that students who live on or near campus are more active in campus events and organizations, and he understands the importance of active students to the culture of a university.
The new “Make it Real” campaign is an excellent example of an idea that, upon introduction, may confuse the VCU community, but further examination reveals it to be refreshingly forward.

Community reaction to the slogan has been mixed. While it seems there was more popular support for the hardwood-derived phrase, “Our Time Right Now,” the new branding initiative includes a focus on the university’s tradition and a slogan that VCU itself has provided different explanations for. So how is Michael Rao going to make it real for VCU?

At the top of many university administrators’ priority lists is campus and student safety. Not only has VCU increased the size of its police force, but the Quest for Distinction includes more construction on campus and an initiative to bring more retail stores to locations just off campus, both to engage VCU with its surrounding community and to increase activity levels to help ward off crime.

In terms of academics, Rao wants to increase the number of faculty and keep the number of students consistent. He wants to lobby state legislature to give a raise to faculty, who haven’t seen one in almost five years.

Rao’s overall effect will be cultural. If, at the end of his Quest for Distinction, more students are living on campus and more students are engaged in the community and extracurricular activities, then he will be fostering not just academic success, but a growing revitalization of academic and social culture.