San Jose State University President Joseph Crowley laid out a plan Wednesday for cutting up to $18 million from the campus budget and said he would do everything possible to protect the educational mission and avoid layoffs in the face of sharp declines in state funding.

The state chancellor of the California State University system already has said CSU's 23 campuses will serve 20,000 fewer students than expected next year to live within its shrunken budget. Students probably will pay higher fees, and some will receive less financial aid.

Crowley asked people on campus to help him find ``efficiencies'' to save money and announced a new resource planning board representing all segments of the school to help with the budgeting process. The interim president said he hopes to make a painful process ``as transparent as possible.''

If enough savings can't be found by eliminating non-essential programs, projects and expenses, the university will have to look at what Crowley called ``alternative work arrangements'' -- job sharing, part-time employment, voluntary furloughs -- to stave off layoffs.