About 100 UC Davis students received a primer on the university's budget Tuesday night along with a warning from Chancellor Linda Katehi that there is no optimal solution to funding cuts.

"One solution will please some and make others very angry," she said.

But Katehi and other administrators said their priority is to make sure students can get the classes they need to graduate in a timely manner.

The discussion was sponsored by student groups, including Associated Students of UC Davis and the campus chapter of the California Public Interest Research Group.

Panelists included Katehi, vice chancellors, professors and student government representatives.

Student Michael Hoye, who helped organize the event, said the goal was to enlighten students about the university's budget.

"A lot of them don't have the information at their fingertips," he said. "We're trying to make all that available."

Vice Chancellor Kelly Ratliff said the university faces a $107 million shortfall in 2011-12.

But deeper cuts are likely if the governor's proposed extensions of tax increases aren't approved by legislators or voters.

Panel member Steven Ybarra, a UC Davis professor who also served as deputy secretary of California's Health and Welfare Agency during Jerry Brown's previous term as governor, told students, "Tomorrow there need to be 10,000 of you at the state Capitol in Republican offices" urging legislators to place the tax measure on the ballot.

But he suggested that campus administrators also could do more to reduce the effect of budget cuts on students, saying that 228 employees on the UC Davis campus have higher salaries than the governor.

If those salaries were reduced to match the governor's, Ybarra said, it would save $9 million.

Katehi said every effort will be made not to reduce the number of class sections offered, but that may mean larger classes.

Asked about her proposal to admit more out-of-state students, she said the intent is not to reduce the number of in-state admissions.

Out-of-state students pay about three times the amount of tuition paid by in-state students, and that extra revenue helps support programs for all students, she said.

She also said there also is an intellectual argument for attracting students from outside California, saying that the university can't provide a global education if all students come from the same schools and communities.

Student Joey Chen, controller for the Associated Students of UC Davis, encouraged fellow students to get involved on a number of committees that have a role in setting student fees.

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