Burnett: Repaying a family debt

COEUR d'ALENE - Don Burnett's Gem State roots run deep, especially at the University of Idaho.

Burnett, the university's new interim president, says he views his services as the repayment of a family debt.

An Idaho native, born in Pocatello, Burnett is the son of two Vandals.

His parents grew up in Wallace and attended the university in Moscow. They were the first people in his family to receive education beyond high school.

"For them, the University of Idaho was the window on the world, and the gateway of opportunity," Burnett told The Press.

He has served as the university's dean of the College of Law since 2002, and became interim president on June 1, replacing Duane Nellis, who left to accept the president's position at Texas Tech University.

Burnett said that everything his parents became, and passed on to he and his brother, was influenced by the University of Idaho.

His mother and father attended the university during the Great Depression, from 1933 to 1937. His father took an additional year, Burnett said, going back to the mines of Wallace to earn money so he could finish school.

Times were so tough back then that Burnett's father used to hunt in the areas around Moscow.

"It was not because he was a sportsman, but because his fraternity needed the food," Burnett said.

Burnett's mother worked in the university's library in the administration building, for 35 cents an hour. She was grateful for the job, he said.

"Nobody had much money in those days, and yet I can remember my folks saying nobody felt poor. They were all in it together," Burnett said. "That feeling of being all in it together and dedicated to a common purpose, establishing what their lives would be, and taking advantage of the opportunities right on campus, instilled in them a great feeling of loyalty to the University of Idaho."

Burnett said he thinks University of Idaho alumni have a greater than average sense of school loyalty, and those who earned their degrees during the Depression have an even stronger affinity for their alma mater.

"It meant the world to them, so as I say, I'm repaying a family debt right now," he said.

Burnett himself earned a bachelor's degree in economics at Harvard, his Juris Doctor at the University of Chicago and his master's in law at the University of Virginia.

The national search for a long-term president will continue, Burnett said. His position will not be more than interim, an understanding he said he has with the State Board of Education, whose members serve as the university's regents, and with his wife.

While he doesn't mind promoting the university, Burnett said he plans to be more than a cheerleader.

"I think that people on campus not only want continuity, but they want to have the sense of an agenda that is actually moving forward, that we're not pausing, that we're sustaining movement in certain strategic areas of the university," Burnett said.

Some of the areas Burnett will be focusing on include the university's ongoing capital campaign and increasing the amount of funded research being done.

"It's unusual for a university that doesn't have a medical school to generate $100 million or more for research, but we do," Burnett said.

The economic impact on the state is huge, he said, generating projects that bring highly skilled employees, and their spending, to the state. They hope to increase the funded research amount they take in to $150 million by 2020.

Burnett said he's taking a hard look at increasing enrollment and retention of students attending the university.

The student population statewide currently sits near 12,000, and he hopes to increase that number closer to 16,000, Burnett said.

The continued expansion of the university's legal education program in Boise is another priority, Burnett said, one that previously raised some controversy.

"I think people now understand that it's essential to securing the strength of our program in Moscow that we provide opportunities for students in Boise. That is the largest metropolitan center, the center of government and the state capital," Burnett said.

Establishing partnerships with other colleges and universities throughout the state and with private sector partners is also a priority, he said.

Schools like North Idaho College and Lewis-Clark State College are able to deliver many of the workforce skills needed in today's economy, Burnett said, and also courses that are needed so students can go on and earn upper level degrees at the University of Idaho.

These "sister" schools also excel at offering certain specialities, he said, like nursing at LCSC, he said.

"We can link to those, not only by articulation of academic curricular requirements, but also, we can harness technology," Burnett said.

At the university, they are looking at expanding their distance education programming, he said. In many cases, courses require on-the-ground components that they could partner with LCSC and NIC to provide.

"I really see these partnerships as expanding the capacity of all the participating institutions. No one institution has to do it all by itself," he said.

Burnett said that in Moscow they are proud of the efforts of Charles Buck, the university's associate vice president/center executive officer in northern Idaho, "to make the university relevant to economic development."

"Our overall effort to make a big return on investment in the state of Idaho depends an awful lot on our efforts in Coeur d'Alene, and I'm really pleased with the direction those efforts are going," Burnett said.