SANTA CRUZ — About 75 staff members at UC Santa Cruz will see their jobs disappear this fall under a streamlining designed to help the campus cope with an expected $17 million budget cut from the state.

That size of cut on a $408 million budget will mean fewer courses and sections for students and fewer resources for faculty.

Chancellor M.R.C. Greenwood and Executive Vice Chancellor Martin Chemers delivered the bad news to faculty and staff Wednesday.

"This budget is terrible for us," said Greenwood, although she cautioned that the Legislature has yet to act on the governor’s proposals.

One piece of good news is that UCSC has realized $3 million in ongoing savings thanks to the Avcor consulting firm.

"The consultant was a good idea," Chemers said. "The savings will cushion the cuts and other changes will make your jobs easier."

UCSC has already cut 65 vehicles out of its fleet, combined two high-level administrative positions, the vice chancellor of research and the dean of graduate studies, and adopted a new bar-code inventory system that will save 2,500 hours of staff time.

The next project is to consolidate 23 centers that handle payroll, purchasing and human resources into one office. The average salary for jobs in these offices is $43,529.

About 177 people perform these tasks now; the consultant estimates that 100 could handle the work once the campus switches to electronic systems for timekeeping and purchasing.

For example, the Social Sciences Division, where Chemers was dean, had one manager overseeing two clerks. With the consolidation, he expects managers to supervise more workers.

The campus also is working on consolidating various information technology offices that employ more than 300 people. The goal is to make those changes by late fall.

Chemers said UCSC will offer employees assistance in finding different jobs on campus as well as training opportunities.

"If you’re in the bulldozer’s line, think about where you’ll move to be safe," he said.

When one employee asked how to find out if her job was in danger, Greenwood suggested she ask her supervisor. An incentive program to encourage longtime employees to retire early is not likely, Greenwood added.

"This is a very angst-ridden time," one employee said afterward.

Greenwood is cutting $6 million from her office, equivalent to 30 full-time faculty, to close the budget gap.

Faculty will not be spared, either.

Although the campus is still recruiting to fill faculty openings, the department chairs will be asked to come up with budget-cutting scenarios.

Alison Galloway, who chairs the Academic Senate, the faculty governing body, mentioned options such as staggering electives or sequencing courses.

The Academic Senate will see its funding cut, too. This could mean trimming money awarded to faculty for research or travel to scholarly meetings. Last year, 272 faculty received grants totaling $391,000.

Greenwood asked faculty and staff to help her make the case that the university is an economic engine that generates revenue and jobs for the state. If UC is unable to grow, she said, the state will lose $18 billion in revenue and 62,000 jobs over the next decade.

"As bad is it is now, it’s going to get a whole lot worse if Propositions 57 and 58 don’t pass," she said, referring to the state budget initiatives going before voters on March 2.