During his time at Michigan, he oversaw the construction of many buildings, earning him the nickname "Burton the builder." He prepared a detailed building plan and convinced the people of the state and the legislature to grant the university $4,800,000 for the purchase of land and the erection of new buildings and an increased budget of over a million dollars annually. Two years later the legislature of 1923 gave the university over $3,800,000 for buildings and fixed the income of the university from the mill tax at three million dollars per annum. Under his leadership, the university built a new hospital, buildings for the literary college, physics department, engineering laboratories, University High School, and medical school and additions to the dental school and heating plant.