University of Colorado President Bruce Benson is interviewed in his Denver office.

When oilman Bruce Benson was tapped last spring to succeed Hank Brown as the University of Colorado's president, the outcry in some circles was instantaneous.

Critics slammed Benson for his forays into Republican politics, for his career in the oil and gas industry and even for the fact that he doesn't hold an advanced degree.

Six months later, however, CU's leaders are basking in yet another record year for fundraising and receiving federal-grant dollars.

With that in mind, the Colorado Daily checked in with Benson just as the university preps for its largest-ever freshman class to arrive on the Boulder campus.

Q: Have you been taking some time to learn the ropes?

A: There hasn't been time to sit around . . . I came right in the middle of the budget cycle, which is a really critical time in this institution. I've spent a lot of time talking to the governor, the Legislature, going down to the capitol and working with people on the budget committee and capital development committee, working with lobbyists and other higher-ed institutions, and working with our people internally to make sure we are pushing everything the way we should be pushing it.

In the last three months we've had 16 stops around the state. We want to make sure we get out and meet a lot of people and spread the word about the university . . . We're already on track for another record year just six weeks into the (fiscal) year.

Q: With all of this record fundraising, then, why is money still such a concern?

A: Funding in this state is pitiful. We're 48th in the nation . . . Before the last recession, we were getting $210 million into the University of Colorado for all of our campuses from the state. That dropped down to $150 million, and now it's back up to $209 million --but we've got 20 percent growth in student population and no inflation adjustment, so we're way behind where we were before the recession . . . we're having to work hard to balance our budgets.

Q: So where does tuition fit in to all of this?

A: You have sources of revenue such as tuition, state support -- two pieces, one is normal operating costs and the other is capital construction -- then you've got private philanthropy and federal government. All of these pieces we've got to be working with, and the one I want to spend the least time on raising is tuition.

We're trying to hold tuition down.

Q: Sounds like this is what keeps you so passionate about fundraising.

A: Fundraising is a pain in the neck, to be honest with you. I've done it forever, but it's just like running anything -- if you don't want to do all of the critical parts of the job, don't take the job.

And fundraising is a critical part of the job. I have to spend a lot of time on it. You can have all of the vision of the world, but if you haven't got the money, you have to throw the vision away.

Q: Is it important to keep the general public informed about the benefits of higher education?

A: We have to make sure the citizens of the state of Colorado understand how important higher education is. Once they get that through their heads, what it does for them, their families, their communities and business in general, then they'll sign on to help us figure out how to get additional funding in higher education.

It's absolutely critical. If we don't get that, we are going to start sliding.

Q: Where does CU's reputation fit into all of that?

A: A bad reputation can scare people away. If you want to keep your reputation up, you have to keep your nose clean, and that's what we're striving to do at this university: Talk about the good things we're doing and the quality of what's coming out of here and trying to eliminate the bad as much as we can.

Q: How has CU's reputation affected it recently?

A: The (incoming) freshman class is the largest, most talented, most diverse freshman class we've ever had at CU.

When you ask why, well, No. 1, there's a lot of hard work going on. But No. 2, it's the reputation -- and the reputation of our university is much better than it was three or four years ago.

I credit a lot of that to Hank Brown and (CU Foundation President) Wayne Hutchins . . . these gentlemen, the people working under them, and the regents have improved the reputation. We are working to continue to improve that reputation.

Q: How will this approach affect the athletic department?

A: We want to make sure we have high quality people, not just good players -- and we're going to be very tough on stuff.

Q: What kind of a role has diversity played since you started as president of the university?

A: We have a very changing demographic in this country, and when you've got a changing population, you better figure out if everyone is getting educated -- and the answer is no.

We better get it fixed, because if we continue the way we're going and we don't educate the portion of the population that's growing so rapidly, we're going to be in a mess.

Q: Before you were even officially hired, there was criticism about your lack of an advanced degree. Do you think that was fair?

A: If you want someone that knows how to run things, hire someone that knows how to run things. If you want someone who is a great physicist or historian, go hire one of those.

This is a very big, complex organization that needs someone who knows how to make decisions and make things run.

I asked the geology department guys up at Boulder if they thought I would make a better president if I had my PhD in geology, and they just started laughing.

It's a different job these days. If you look at the Big 12, I think there's five or six of us now that don't have fancy terminal degrees.

Q: Another point of contention, specifically from Boulder campus students, was your history with to the oil and gas industry.

A: There are 55,000 students out there, so there's a few hundred that are looking for a cause. If I was their cause, that's fine.

This stuff just doesn't bother me. If you try to make everybody happy, you're going to fail -- and if you don't make a few people uneasy, then you're probably not doing much.

I think if people want to talk about this terrible industry I've been in for 50 years, they probably ought to think really hard about that terrible industry -- because it would probably be pretty dark in this room right now without it, and it would be a pretty long walk back to Boulder.

Q: How does that background impact your support for the governor's "Smarter Colorado" ballot initiative, which would divert a $300 million subsidy from the oil and gas industry to college scholarships and other causes?

A: I have told the governor that I am supporting it.

Q: With so much competition and movement toward earning degrees through the Internet, what is your take on Web classes vs. actually attending classes in a campus setting?

A: We are online, and we're looking into expanding it. There is an awful lot that can be done online . . . The best way to do it is to go to a great college and have all of the great benefits of being on campus, but if you can't get there any other way -- do it online.