Today marks the 13th time the presidency of Central Michigan University has changed hands.

And interim university president Kathy Wilbur is prepared to take on that role.

“It’s a tremendous opportunity,” she said. “I’ve been here for seven years, and during that time, I was very pleased to work with (Former University) President (Michael) Rao and work with other members of the community. But you always have thoughts of your own, like ‘Gee, if I were in charge, I would do this a little differently.”

Wilbur, the former vice president of Governmental Relations and Public Affairs, assumed the presidency today after Rao left CMU for the presidency at Virginia Commonwealth University. Wilbur is the 13th president since CMU began in 1892.

When training for the position, she said she ‘was attached to Mike Rao’s hip’ for the few months she was training.

“He included me in all of those variety of meetings here,” she said. “But we spent a lot of time together above and beyond that. As president, he spent time with those who directly reported to him. Mike had a very small cabinet, a very small team. There is not really an issue I haven’t heard about.”

Wilbur said her schedule today would probably be already full when she walks into Warriner Hall to begin work.

“It wouldn’t surprise me if there’s a pretty full schedule set for me,” she said. “I think first and foremost, the way I’ll start every day, is thinking about how it is we continue with the high level of academic levels on this campus, and how students can succeed in that environment.”

As vice president of Governmental Relations and Public Affairs, Wilbur has worked closely with securing state money for CMU. While she said CMU would be ‘lucky’ if state appropriations will remain at the same levels they were at for last year’s academic year, she does expect tuition to increase for incoming students and students whose CMU Promise has expired as well as students who never had the CMU Promise.

Other universities, such as the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor and Eastern Michigan University, have seen 5.2 percent and 3.8 percent tuition increases in the last few weeks.

“Do I think there will be a tuition increase? Yes. I am not sure what level we will end up at,” she said. “Some people may say why. Universities experience increased costs every year.”

She said the three things that will raise tuition year-to-year are salaries, utilities and health care.

When Wilbur was appointed, some faculty were not pleased with her level of education and claimed she was not fit for the position of president. Wilbur holds a bachelor of arts degree from Michigan State University.

She said while her level of education isn’t as high as some may want, her level of experience is what makes her qualified for the position.

“I think there is a great many different ways to increase experience. I have certainly managed institutions larger than Central Michigan University at the state level,” she said. “I believe that I have plenty of experience in organizational leadership to lead CMU. The mission is clear: the mission to insure student success. We need the resources in order to make that happen.”

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E-mail the author: David Veselenak