A lasting legacy: Bob Kustra’s presidency comes to an end after 15 years

By Jordan Erb and Taylor Munson, The Arbiter

Every year for the past six years, Boise State President Bob Kustra told his wife Kathy that he was going to retire. She learned to smile and nod her head, then watch as adamancy softened into hesitation with the start of the fall semester.

Six fall convocations later, President Kustra has decided to step down from his position. Though he announced his retirement in November, his official last day will be on June 30, after a new president is selected.

During his tenure, President Kustra witnessed three Fiesta Bowl victories, made notable strides in campus infrastructural and cultural development and oversaw the push for recognition by the Carnegie Classifications of Institutions of Higher Education as a doctoral research institution, all with a touch of lightheartedness.

“He loves to laugh,” said vice president for research and economic development Mark Rudin. “I can’t explain it. He works hard, and he’s very serious sometimes, but he loves to laugh too.”

To commemorate President Kustra’s retirement, The Arbiter compiled a highlight reel of his legacy from start to finish.

Athletics

The first Fiesta Bowl win by Boise State was in 2007, and it was a pivotal moment in the university’s history. According to Greg Hahn, associate vice president of communications and marketing, the down-to-the-wire win signaled a shift in perception about Boise State. It was also one of Hahn’s favorite memories of President Kustra, as it was then that they knew things were going to change.

“The number of applications, even for graduate programs, spiked,” Hahn said. “The level of interest spiked, and the idea was, ‘well, this is our chance. If we ever wanted to expand our footprint, now’s the time to do it.’”

Also under President Kustra’s tenure was the decision to implement a baseball program at Boise State. Though the program won’t be in action until 2020, the infrastructure is in place and has received strong support from the president.

 Graphic by Sierra Nobley.

Development

President Kustra’s 15-year tenure witnessed the university’s vast expansion. The Micron Business and Economics Building, the Stueckle Sky Center, the Alumni and Friends Center and several other buildings were constructed during his time, totaling $400 million in new developments since 2003.

According to Martin Schimpf, the current provost and vice president of academic affairs, Kustra has always been forward-thinking in his approach to the development of Boise State.

“I learned a new word about a year ago and when I learned this word, I thought of President Kustra,” Schimpf said. “The word is ‘perspicacity.’ It’s the quality of having ready insight into things. He has great insight, he’s well read, and he sees the future.”

According to Schimpf, Kustra’s leadership in creating the College of Western Idaho (CWI) is a great example of his ability to see the future.

“It wasn’t too long after he got here that he saw the need for a community college in this region, in order to release Boise State to become something more because we couldn’t do it all,” Schimpf said. “That’s one of the great legacies I think he’s left. He was a real driving force in the creation of CWI.”

Before the creation of CWI, Boise was the largest metropolitan area in the country without a community college, according to Kathy Kustra. When President Kustra learned this, the push for a dedicated community college began. By creating a specific community college, the president was allowed more leeway to create what he and Kathy Kustra refer to as a “vibrant campus culture.”

To do so, President Kustra began marketing the university more to traditional students by fostering the growth of campus activities. He was a driving force in expanding Greek life on campus, and he introduced Living Learning Communities, as well as an overnight orientation.

“He felt that having communities of different stripes that people are comfortable being in are what cause people to feel like they’re home; this is their school, and this is where they want to stay for four years, whether that’s somebody who wants a fraternity or sorority or somebody who wants to gather around their major,” Kathy Kustra said.

Beyond social culture, President Kustra also pushed for intellectual development, with the most tangible example being the new Honors College building. The new building is a visible symbol of the college’s importance at Boise State, and it signifies President Kustra’s dedication to its success, according to Hahn.

“It was a very visible way to say this is an important part of campus,” Hahn said. “The biggest building on campus is the Honors College, so that was a big declaration that this is important.”

The president is most proud of the Center for Fine Arts, which is slated to open in Fall 2019.

“When I look at all these buildings–and they’re all important to me–the Center of Fine Arts is the one that means the most to me, personally,” President Kustra said. “And the reason for that is simple. In higher education today, it’s more and more difficult for universities to find the funding either from the public sector or from donors to build out the arts and the humanities. I think we were able to do that here because of the incredible support we received from the state, but especially from the community.”

Research

During an address to the university in August 2003, President Kustra told listeners that Boise State needed to set its sights on becoming a Carnegie-designated metropolitan research university of distinction. More than a decade later, in January 2016, the university reached that goal.

The Carnegie classification system looks at the number of doctoral students and programs, and the amount of research being done at the university before designating campuses. With the help of Rudin and Schimpf, Carnegie recognized Boise State as an R3 doctoral research institution in 2016. The only designation higher than an R3 is an R2 or R1, which Rudin said he believes Boise State will eventually be able to reach.

Rudin also said that while growing Boise State’s research has been at the forefront of President Kustra’s presidency since he arrived at Boise State, he never lost sight of the importance of the students and their success.

“He never wanted our growth in research to negatively impact the student experience,” Rudin said. “That’s a testimony to him being able to move the campus forward and try to achieve our dreams, but have a firm foundation on what the university values.”

Throughout President Kustra’s work to maintain focus on student success, the university has seen a substantial increase in graduation and retention rates.

Chief operating officer Kevin Satterlee said not only has President Kustra made strides in the research aspects of the university, but more than anything, he’s arguably brought even more attention to the “distinction” part of Boise State’s reputation.

One example Satterlee brought up was when President Kustra decided out of the blue that he wanted to have astronaut Barbara Morgan be an educator in residence at Boise State.

“How many universities have an astronaut in residence?” Satterlee said. “And that was his idea–his brainchild. (He knew) this is how we’re going to make ourselves distinctive.”

Another example was the creation of the College of Innovation and Design (CID). According to Satterlee, when President Kustra made the proposal for the CID to the State Board of Education and the proposal was peer-reviewed by other universities, many of Boise State’s sister institutions were skeptical.

“But he drove that vision; he said, ‘this is going to work, this is what it’s going to do,’ and look what a success it has been as a college,” Satterlee said.

Plans for the Kustras after June 30

Once a new president is chosen and President Kustra works his last day at the university, he and Kathy Kustra will have more time for their family, travel, reading, writing and avid bird-watching.

“He is an unbelievably crazy bird and dog lover,” Kathy Kustra said. “He can be a nerd sometimes–he’s a bird nerd. There are binoculars all around our house. He feeds birds all the time. I could be telling him that I thought I was having a heart attack, and all of a sudden he would be saying, ‘oh, I think the blue lazulis are back!’”

President Kustra will still walk his border collie Sadie three or four miles every morning. He also plans to continue his radio show, “Reader’s Corner,” which is aired weekly on Boise State Public Radio. Kathy Kustra said the couple has plans to travel throughout the summer and fall, from Chicago to the Smoky Mountains to northern Europe.

President Kustra said he hopes to find himself working with Boise State’s School of Public Service. He hopes for some level of interaction with students and faculty, and said he would be discontent to sit at home after June 30.

“I’m not willing to sit at home, that’s for sure,” President Kustra said. “My wife has this great saying, ‘I married you for better or for worse, but not for lunch.’ I think she’s giving me a message.”