Inside Furman is published monthly during the school year by the Furman University Department of Marketing and Public Relations. For story ideas, e-mail John Roberts, editor.
Master of compliance
Burns ensures that Furman works within NCAA guidelines
John Burns has two passions in his life.
The first is a love for college athletics. The second is his relish of rules and a knack for administrative details.
Throughout a 33-year career in higher education, Burns had held jobs that have played to one strength or the other. He's been a coach, admissions counselor and financial aid director. But the job he will retire from in May has been his favorite because it immerses him in athletics while satisfying his need to organize.
As Furman's associate athletic director and compliance director, Burns works to ensure that university's 30 coaches and 320 athletes operate within NCAA rules. And it's been a task he's performed well. During his 12-year tenure Furman has been guilty of only a handful of NCAA secondary violations.
Such violations, Burns says, are often minor, self-reported offenses; like when a coach buys a meal for a recruit off-campus when NCAA rules stipulate that prospective players can only receive free meals on-campus. Examples of major violations are academic fraud and payments to athletes.
“We've always been very fortunate at Furman because we have good coaches who want to run programs by the rules rather than trying to find ways around them,” says Burns. “And we have great students who are motivated athletically and academically.”
A native of Lyon , Kansas , Burns grew up in almost Rockwellian surroundings. His father owned and managed a small grocery store on Main Street . Burns graduated from McPherson College, a small, church-affiliated school in Kansas , where he played football.
After graduating, Burns joined the Air Force in 1961 and was stationed in Japan before serving a tour in Vietnam as a navigator/radio operator on large supply planes. Burns left the service in 1966 and enrolled at the University of Colorado where he would earn a master's degree in business management.
Undecided on a career after college, Burns dropped by the university's athletic department on a whim one day and asked for a part-time job as a graduate assistant. A few months later he was offered a job breaking down game film for the football team. He also helped coach the defensive backs and kick return team.
“I really had a great time,” Burns remembers. “I learned a lot about administration and enjoyed the interaction with students.”
Burns returned to alma mater after graduating, serving as an admissions counselor and assistant basketball and football coach. A chance reunion with an old high school friend who was then director of continuing education of the College of Charleston led to Burns being named director of financial aid at C of C in 1972.
He remained there until joining Furman in 1984 as associate director of financial aid. Six months later, he was promoted to director.
“I liked Charleston, but Furman was more of a university setting, which I really missed,” says Burns. “I missed being around athletics, too, particularly football.”
In 1989, with NCAA compliance issues become a growing concern among all colleges, Burns was named Furman's first full-time compliance director. In a job that often requires that he scrutinize coaches, Burns' sense of humor and easy-going personality are his greatest assets.
“John has the ability to ensure to Furman follows the rules, but he does it in such a way to let everyone know that he is in their corner,” says Athletic Director Gary Clark. “He doesn't act like a barking traffic cop. John has a great rapport and respect among our coaches.”