Eastern presidential candidate Phillip Conn told members of the campus community Wednesday that he intends to spend much time “strengthening Eastern’s statewide political base and building community ties,” in part to alleviate funding problems from a suffering state economy.

Concern over the recent budget shortfall led some in attendance to ask whether tuition rates could drastically increase, taking more money out of students’ pockets.

The second of three candidates, Conn, vice president for special programs at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, said that he could not guarantee that this wouldn’t happen, but he would work to see that it didn’t.

“I expect tuition will increase,” he said at an open session interview, “but I have to work diligently to let state legislation know that they can’t put higher education out of reach. It’s a matter of investing in the state and investing in the future.”

Money is an issue at Eastern just as it is for most universities now due to the slumping economy, Conn said while explaining his plans to acquire money for Eastern.

Conn said there is a preconceived notion that it is difficult to work with politicians of a state when you are obviously not from the state.

“But I found that to be untrue.”

Conn, who is from the South, said, “my most notable success in gaining money for an institution was in North Dakota” where he was the president of Dickinson State University.

Enrollment management is another of Conn’s key assets that he said could help to strengthen the institution. Conn mentioned the turnaround an enrollment numbers while he was president at Dickinson State.

“I have been successful in enrollment management, and I have been active in fund raising my whole career,” he said.

Conn said that he hoped to get the community involved and build strong ties with them. One way he proposed to do that is to let people know what Eastern is all about.

“There is still more of a story to tell of the excellence of the university,” he said, “I am eager to come here and tell that story. If I can be the spokesman, the cheerleader, the advocate of this university for the community, that is what I want to do.” “This is precisely the type of community that I have lived in, and it is precisely the type of community I hope to work in.”

Audience members also brought up the concern that Conn has not worked as a president with a faculty union. Conn said that he looks forward to the opportunity, and he does have experience working in and studying collective bargaining situations.

“I have been around a whole range of bargaining units,” Conn said, “but my primary background comes from study. It is going to to be a challenge for people to come together and work for a common goal, but I will certainly make myself available and work to create a good relationship with the union.”

Conn will be on campus for interviews again tomorrow. There will be an open session meeting for faculty at 9:40 a.m. Thursday in the 1895 Room of the Martin Luther King, Jr. University Union.

The final candidate for the position, John Cavanaugh, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs at the University of North Carolina-Wilmington, will come to campus for interviews on Friday.

The first candidate, Livingston Alexander, visited Eastern Monday and Tuesday.