Gov. Jane Dee Hull proposed budget cuts Wednesday that would cost the UA about $17 million ÷ 5 percent of its annual state funding ÷ if the Arizona Legislature approves.

The proposed cut is not as big as UA administrators expected it would be.

"It gives us tremendous relief," said Provost George Davis.

Davis and other administrators are examining the UA budget to see where they can come up with the money.

College deans had already been asked to plan for 5 percent budget cuts this year, with administrators in non-academic departments planning for 10 percent cuts.

But if more budget cuts come, they will not be distributed equally.

"We're interested in having no across-the-board cuts," Davis said, adding that he and other officials are looking to make cuts that make sense based on each individual program.

The university presidents can cut non-classroom items to come up with the money, said James Ahlers, Hull's press secretary.

"She's aware that the cuts will negatively affect the universities, but from her analysis of the budget she felt the universities could withstand the cut," Ahlers said. "It's a substantial dollar cut for the universities, but the governor specified that the cuts be kept to 5 percent rather than 10 percent to keep from affecting the students and the classrooms."

Arizona Board of Regents President Jack Jewett said he isn't so sure that keeping the cuts to 5 percent will protect students.

"I don't think that anyone can ensure that," Jewett said.

Hull should have said she was trying to minimize the effects of the cuts, because UA's students have already been negatively impacted by the shortage in state funding, Davis said.

Three hundred eighty-three UA workers lost their jobs this year and last between cutbacks and contracts that were not renewed.

Randy Richardson, vice president for undergraduate education, said last summer that Finish in Four, a program designed to help students graduate in four years, isn't as strong as it once was because not all students can get the courses they need to stay on track. The board of regents and the university presidents were working to ensure class availability so students are able to get required classes and graduate on time, Jewett said.

"This is one more round of cuts," he said. "We've got to get to the point where we're getting state money, rather than having it taken away from us. It's hard to provide quality instruction without the necessary public support."

Regents are expected to discuss their plans for dealing with budget cuts and changing the universities' missions at a meeting in Tempe on Wednesday.

"We're planning for the best of times, but we're bracing for the worst of times," Jewett said.

Hull feels it is her obligation to balance the budget before the new governor takes the reins in January, Ahlers said.

The rest of her proposal would cut $120 million state-wide, require at least 43 state employees to be laid off, not counting university employees.

About $40 million would be cut from Arizona's three public universities if her proposals pass. This year's state deficit is approaching $500 million and was recently projected to total up to $1 billion next year.