A major talking point for Binghamton University’s fourth presidential candidate last week was how BU will cope with continued cuts in state funding.

Uday Sukhatme, currently the executive vice chancellor and dean of the faculties at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI), presented to more than 100 people in New University Union room 120 Friday.

“State funding is going to be difficult to get,” Sukhatme said. But he said finding “new revenue streams” was a positive way of recognizing that the school can continue to maintain a high level of service by bringing in monies through means other than state funding.

Sukhatme also supported the efforts of SUNY Chancellor Nancy Zimpher, who has been advocating for a tuition plan that would implement regular increases in order to eliminate more drastic periodic spikes in tuition.

He called previous increases “rather erratic,” and he said what the chancellor is doing “is a good thing.”

Sukhatme also emphasized the need for graduate programs.

“We definitely have to strengthen graduate programs,” he said. He reasoned that good faculty go to where there are good graduate programs, so those programs would be instrumental in attracting top-quality faculty members.

At IUPUI, he led the development and implementation of its large-scale academic plan, which included an emphasis on research, teaching, service and generating non-traditional sources for funding.

Before working at IUPUI, Sukhatme was the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the State University of New York at Buffalo from 2002 to 2006. Before that he worked at the University of Illinois at Chicago from 1980 to 2002, where he held various positions from professor of physics to associate vice president for academic affairs. IUPUI has about 31,000 students and an annual core budget of $1.2 billion.

Sukhatme was the first candidate to have a PowerPoint to accompany his presentation, and he spoke in general terms about the history of public higher education and about recent developments in the field.

Staff, faculty and students also asked questions at the open forum.

Fernando Guzman, chair of mathematical sciences at BU, expressed concern about the school’s liberal arts programs.

“I noticed liberal arts didn’t come into your presentation until minute 36,” Guzman said of Sukhatme. “We have evolved into a research university, but we haven’t lost our liberal arts core … How is that liberal arts core going to be kept or lost?”

Sukhatme affirmed that he does value the “importance of a complete liberal arts education.”

Craig Broccoli, an MBA student in the School of Management, asked about the school’s pride. He asked Sukhatme what he would do to foster a “sense of pride and commitment to the University.”

Sukhatme pointed to BU’s residential communities as being instrumental to fostering school pride. He also said, in his current position, he interacts with students and teaches every third semester.

Mary Ann Swain, a professor in the Decker School of Nursing, asked about Sukhatme’s views on how the president relates to other top administrators.

“I am interested in what kinds of … expectations you have for the entire leadership of this school,” she said.

Sukhatme responded that the president needs to align ideas for the whole campus.

“If they’re going off in different directions, the whole campus doesn’t benefit,” he said.

The fifth and final candidate will present from 3 to 4:30 p.m. Monday. Like the others, this presentation is open to the public.