Dr. Charles Buck has been in his current position at the University of Idaho in Coeur d'Alene for two-and-a-half years. His job title is 10 words long: Associate Vice President and Center Executive Officer of Northern Idaho.

Admittedly it may take a bit of work to translate, but it's definitely worth the effort. Buck is an interesting man doing interesting work.

What do you do for a living?

I'm responsible for the University's activities north of Moscow.

No one's ever accused you of being verbose, have they?

Actually my Twitter handle (descriptor) is, "I am concise."

Perhaps you might share some more about your job?

Of course. I'm the administrator for this satellite campus, and that includes the logistics of carrying out our classroom training - both undergraduate and graduate.

I'm also the community connection for the University and I support both the community and its leaders.

What's the size of the local UI program?

We have on location about 12 undergraduate and 12 graduate programs here. It's a relatively small fraction of the more than 150 programs Moscow offers.

We've currently got about 500 students and we graduated about 120 of them last May. Mostly we've got non-traditional students - folks who are out in the working world. We're not graduating 21- and 22-year-olds.

We have fewer than a dozen faculty members.

Our students take all their lower division classes at NIC (Northern Idaho College) and that's a great opportunity for us to partner with a community college in a beneficial way.

Was it always your goal to be an educator?

When I was a kid, I wanted to be a physician but only because I thought that that's what you had to do if you were good at science. When I got to college I realized there were other things to do.

I do think I always considered my life somewhat in the context of teaching - I appreciated the good teachers and was frustrated by the bad ones.

I went to grad school with the idea of teaching, but ended up hardly teaching at all. Most of my career I focused on research.

You've done your fair share of moving around. From your first faculty position at the University of Utah to eight years in research at Emory University to a five-year stint in biotechnical research in Austria to your most recent pre-UI job as director of operations for the Life Science Engineering Center at Purdue, how did it all prepare you for your current position?

What I took away from a lot of those experiences was the businessman's ethic. I think I was better at managing science than I was running my own little group.

I was able to jump in and out of academia and into the private sector without any problem.

Why did you accept this job?

I had a secret ambition I wanted to fulfill.

I think Idaho can carve out an interesting place in the future of education and I want to be a part of that. I don't necessarily have to lead it.

Tell me more about this dream.

Think about the mental picture most of us have about education - a teacher standing at the front of a room that has a blackboard and desks. It's the same picture of education they had in 1860.

Institutions are resistant to change and this little satellite campus here is the perfect opportunity to pilot change in the University - to make this institution more responsible and more vital in the community.

We need to figure out to use technology to reach larger numbers but to also capture an enhanced learning experience.

I don't see education as a business, but I know we can bring in a lot of business principles to make this operation work better. So far, education has not done a whole lot of that.

Give me an example of something new and techie in education.

MOOCS for instance. Massive Open Online Courses with free access via the Internet.

Now that's obviously not what's going to sustain effective teaching and I do know there's value to personal attention in teaching, but I also suspect that that's still going to be available with technology.

Will we have to retrain teachers to think out-of-the-classroom?

Yes, I think the research suggests retraining teachers to be effective in that format. A lot of it involves increased self-awareness. Getting feedback from students and making changes.

Where do community link-ups fit in?

The experiment here is focused on the community. Why? If the university in the traditional sense is going to survive, the community has to demand it. Also, community support will result in sustained funding.

Universities have become complacent - we think we're necessary, but others may not agree.

From an employment perspective involving quality of life and happiness, the research shows that if you get a bachelor's degree, you'll have a higher quality of life than if you don't.

I'm concerned we're not effectively serving the community - that we're still set up for a traditional 18-year old residential campus and that's less and less compatible. Only 20 percent of the students getting their bachelors degrees are 18 to 20-year-olds.

I think the key thing is to bring programming that meets local needs. I think that helps people in the locale recognize that this is something they can use in their community.

What's the secret to students finding jobs after they graduate?

The information tech industry is overwhelmingly in need of skilled workers and more and more of the best jobs are going to be in that industry. I don't think incoming students realize how important the IT industry is to getting a job. We need to raise awareness of trends.

I think by partnering with local companies, the University can bring authentic experience and of what these jobs are like in community.

Does this mean the old-fashioned "liberal arts" education has gone the way of the 8-track tape?

If the university can operate in that practical world more effectively, the advantages of a full university education become more apparent. We need to become more oriented toward practical needs in the community.

That's part of the rescue mission. If the university can become more relevant, then the advantages of the breadth of what's offered will become more clear.

One of the things institutions are trying to do now is make those core classes more relevant.

Are you satisfied that enough progress has been made in this direction?

No, I'm not satisfied. Yes, I think our efforts from the University to better engage the community have been fruitful. But I know we must generate more awareness and more appreciation for the resources we can offer.

We haven't realized yet how to turn our gears toward really making something impactful happen in the community.

What if the University could figure out a way to provide universal preschool education for every kid in the community? The key word here is "universal." I don't think other communities have been doing this yet and it would make a huge impact because the sooner you get kids into an organized learning situation, the more likely they're going to succeed.

The University has a lot of resources to bring to the table to contribute to a solution. We can train teachers, provide experts in early childhood development and food and nutrition professionals. We also have the facilities.

And how to you expect to realize your dreams?

Day by day. A lot of what I'm doing is focussing on building relationships both with the main campus and the community. So, I have to say that the answer is day by day.

Students are amazing and they're always hungry for more.

My career here involves working with students and I'm astounded by what they can achieve.