SACRAMENTO — Talk about cold, hard reality. UC Day at the Capitol dawned here March 1 with a temperature in the 30s and this banner headline in The Sacramento Bee: “UC Davis may ax jobs, raise fees to close gap.”

UC President Mark G. Yudof, who came in from UC’s Oakland headquarters to join UC allies from around the state for a day of advocacy, had read the story. And he talked with Dateline UC Davis about potential loss of up to 500 staff positions.

“I think it’s very, very sad,” Yudof said during a break in his legislative appointments. Unlike many of the other UC Day delegates, Yudof comes to Sacramento regularly to talk about the university’s budget — which this year is in line for a $500 million cut in state funding.

Yudof noted how the university had already saved millions of dollars through administrative efficiencies, enacted employee furloughs from 2009 to 2010, and raised student fees.

“But we’re running out of options,” he said. “And this $500 million cut is the best we can hope for.”

That’s right: If Gov. Brown fails in his effort to put tax extensions before the state’s voters in June, or if his tax plan makes it on the ballot and the voters say “no,” the university could be looking at a $1 billion cut in 2011-12.

“This underinvestment in the University of California is shameful,” Yudof said.

$500 million cut, systemwide

Which is why he joined 200 or so faculty, employees, students, alumni and others at UC Day, to advocate for more money — or at least nothing worse than the $500 million cut that is making its way through the Legislature.

UC Davis’ share of that systemwide cut would be about $73 million, on top of additional fixed costs of $26 million (for health care, collective bargaining agreements and the employer’s contributions to the UC Retirement Plan).

In addition, the UC Davis budget includes an $8 million placeholder for potential salary and compensation increases to mitigate the most significant compensation challenges for faculty and staff.

Added together, the campus’s shortfall is $107 million, which the campus proposes to cover with a “balanced approach” of new revenue, efficiency improvements and cost reductions. Read earlier coverage.

Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi and Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Ralph J. Hexter outlined their budget strategy in a Feb. 23 letter to Yudof — a letter that became the basis for The Bee’s articley on potential job losses.

The letter forecasts that UC Davis could cut 450 to 500 staff positions, or 15 percent of those that are covered by state general fund money and-or tuition. No one expects that many people to lose their jobs — because, as always, attrition will be in play, and some employees will be redeployed to fill vacancies elsewhere on campus.

Still, the very notion of layoffs does not sit well with Yudof. “I don’t like it one bit,” he told Dateline. “But, at the end of the day, we have to balance our budget.”

He also maintained his glass-half-full optimism: “We still offer a high quality education, and look at all the wonderful students and faculty that we have been able to retain in this harsh time.

“That’s what keeps me going.”

Long-term plan for stability

In his welcoming remarks to the UC Day delegates, Yudof said UC has been sharing and will continue to share the pain of the state’s fiscal crisis.

“But we need a long-term plan for stability,” he said, voicing hope for an end to big hits in state funding, year after year, and the resulting big tuition increases.

“It’s really been a terrible ride for UC students and their families,” he said.

Indeed, legislators heard that message in their UC Day meetings with student delegates and alumni whose own children are now attending UC or hope to attend the university.

Katehi joined other UC Davis delegates at afternoon meetings with two legislators, and commented afterward: “The positive in all this is that they are trying to find a long-term solution.

“Unless they create an environment of stability for us, we will not be able to protect our students.”

A cut of $73 million in state funding to UC Davis would be on top of three successive years of cuts (2008-09 to 2010-11) totaling $222 million — or 38 percent in state general fund money.

Meanwhile, the UC Board of Regents has boosted student fees by 56 percent, from $7,126 in 2008-09 to $11,124 in 2011-12 (for undergradutes who are California residents).

13 legislative meetings

Altogether, the UC Davis delegation met with legislators or their representatives from 13 Senate and Assembly districts, among the 14 that are served primarily by UC Davis (one seat is vacant). The districts stretch between Santa Rosa and Lake Tahoe, and all the way north to the Oregon border.

“It’s valuable to go out and meet with the legislators and have them listen,” said Patrick Sherwood, president of the Cal Aggie Alumni Association.

Of course, he acknowledged, all legislators are sympathetic to UC’s needs. He said the hard thing is the ranking — how will lawmakers rank UC against competing priorities?

Jeff Fearn, a CAAA vice president, said legislative visits provide UC the opportunity to explain the university’s contributions in every single part of the state, even Doug La Malfa’s largely rural 4th Senate District.

“The UC Davis Health System’s telemedicine project is a real benefit to his district,” Fearn said.

Colin Murphy, external chair of the Graduate Student Association, said personalities are a big factor in legislative advocacy. “And, so even if you walk into a meeting, knowing that nothing is going to happen, the relationship matters.

“It’s all legwork — work you have to do if you want to achieve anything,” said Murphy, a graduate student in Transportation Technology and Policy.

“And every once in a while, someone will say, ‘That makes sense,’ and they will advocate for you.”

It already makes sense to Yudof, Katehi and other UC allies, who know full well the value of a UC education.

Their mission now is to preserve it. “We’ll compromise on a lot of things,” Yudof told his UC Day audience, as they sipped on coffee and rubbed their hands together to stay warm, “but we will not compromise on the quality of the University of California. That is not negotiable.”

Read more: President Yudof asks to hear some Lady Gaga, and the California Aggie Marching Band-uh! obliges.

Video and photos: On President Yudof's Facebook page.