Chancellor Linda Katehi said Monday that arts programs are “critical” to UC Davis’ future, but voters may dramatically alter what that future looks like on Nov. 6.

If Gov. Jerry Brown’s tax increase measure, Proposition 30, fails, UCD could face $50 million in cuts on top of an existing $45 million budget shortfall.

Speaking after her fourth Fall Convocation since coming to Davis, Katehi said a $50 million cut would be the equivalent of:

* Eliminating 258 faculty members, roughly the size of the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences;

* Laying off 650 staff members, about the size of the campus’ facilities group, including parking services and grounds and building maintenance; or

* Increasing annual student tuition by another $2,000.

“It’s going to go down to the bone, whatever we do,” Katehi said.

The University of California Board of Regents recently huddled in San Francisco to discuss what to do about UC’s monetary troubles. Among the ideas offered: reducing employee health care, raiding UC’s endowment and letting campuses set their own tuition.

Recent polls show a nail-biting finish for Prop. 30, which would raise income taxes for those making more than $250,000 and impose a three-year, quarter-cent sales tax increase.

A Public Policy Institute of California poll released Sept. 19 showed 52 percent support for the measure with 8 percent undecided.

“Everything you can imagine (about whether it will pass or fail), I hear,” Katehi said. “That makes me extremely nervous.”

UCD’s state general fund budget has been chopped by one-third over the past five years, down to about $300 million.

The chancellor used the convocation — this year billed as a celebration of the Mondavi Center’s 10th anniversary and the arts on campus — to reject a call for universities to narrow their offerings to save money.

“Despite these challenges, we should not forget that learning to question, learning to create and learning to learn are the deepest form of freedom one can practice as a citizen,” Katehi said.

“And learning through the arts … helps students develop the sensitivities that will make them successful citizens and not simply successful employees.”

The fiscal news wasn’t all gloomy.

Katehi said UCD attracted a record $745 million in research funds this year — up almost 10 percent — and had its second-best fundraising year ever: $132 million.

She also announced that the UC Davis Foundation board has set as a goal raising $1 million by Nov. 1 that it will use to match other donations for endowed student scholarships.

“With all the financial challenges facing California and the nation, we know how critical it has become to diversify our sources of revenue and bring financial stability to our campus,” Katehi said.

Kelly Ratliff, associate vice chancellor for budget resource management, said Monday that the campus’ shortfall is made up of $25 million left over after taking stop-gap measures to close a $120 million gap last year and fixed cost increases, including retirement contributions and health care costs.

UCD will begin making up some of that shortfall by adding revenue from out-of-state and international student tuition, ongoing savings from its consolidation of support functions like human resources and information technology, and additional savings from its energy efficiency program.

How UCD would tackle still more cuts would hinge on the regents.

“It really depends on what steps they take,” Ratliff said.

One subject not addressed at convocation: the police pepper-spraying of student protesters last November that brought to campus unwanted international publicity, rounds of investigations and promises of reform.

Another tuition increase almost certainly would lead to more protests — and an early challenge to changes within the Police Department and Katehi’s administration intended to defuse tension and reduce officers’ use of force.

— Reach Cory Golden at [email protected] or 530-747-8046. Follow him on Twitter at @cory_golden

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An appreciative crowd applauds at the 2012 Fall Convocation on Monday at the Mondavi Center. The center is celebrating its 10th year this year. Sue Cockrell/Enterprise photo

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The Robert and Margrit Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts, which many regard as a work of art itself, is rendered in cake form by the Freeport Bakery in Sacramento for Monday’s Fall Convocation celebration. Sue Cockrell/Enterprise photo

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The UC Davis Gamelan Ensemble performs during the 2012 Fall Convocation on Monday at the Mondavi Center. Sue Cockrell/Enterprise photo

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Margrit Mondavi cuts a cake modeled after the performing arts center named in her honor as Don Roth, executive director of the Mondavi Center, and Chancellor Linda Katehi look on. Mondavi’s late husband, Robert, and she donated $10 million to the university for the performing arts center, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. Sue Cockrell/Enterprise photo

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UC Davis Chancellor Emeritus Larry Vanderhoef warmly greets Margrit Mondavi, a major campus benefactor, right, and Chancellor Linda Katehi on Monday following Katehi’s 2012 Fall Convocation address at the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts. Behind them is a cake from Freeport Bakery in Sacramento modeled after the Mondavi Center, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. Sue Cockrell/Enterprise photo

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