UC Riverside Chancellor France Cordova said Tuesday that the state budget crisis will not deter her campaign for either a medical school or a law school at the campus.

"I think they're very important for a campus like this," Cordova said.

"My number one priority in the bigger sense ... is that we be allowed to race on and develop professional education," she said.

Cordova was speaking during a forum organized to review the effect of past and future budget cuts at UCR.

About 40 people, mostly faculty and staff, attended the meeting at Bourns Hall.

Cordova said she plans to discuss UCR's interest in creating a full-fledged medical school with University of California President Robert Dynes during a strategic planning meeting of UC chancellors in July.

She is looking forward to a UC report in the fall on the state's long-term health needs, Cordova said. Fresno city officials are also vying for a UC medical school with UC Merced as a partner.

The Inland area's pursuit of a new professional school was among the initiatives that UCR administrators stressed during a meeting called "The Year in Review: Moving Forward in Challenging Times."

University officials told the group that despite four years of budget cuts, UCR has a bright future.

"I think that we're emerging from a long, dark night," said Bill Jury, UCR's interim executive vice chancellor.

UCR's plans for a law school were put on hold in 2001 after a state commission rejected the proposal, saying the state already produced enough lawyers.

Jury said the campus expects to reach $100 million in research funding from outside of the state for the first time this year.

Officials also said the compact reached between Gov. Schwarzenegger and the leaders of the UC and California State University systems will help them cope with growth. The agreement calls for modest funding increases in coming years in exchange for cuts and fee increases this fall.

The pact calls for a 10 percent drop in new freshman enrollment this fall.

"It stops the hemorrhaging of our budget," said Gretchen Bolar, UCR's vice chancellor for academic planning and budget. "It says 'no more cuts.' ... We get to move forward."

Among other efforts that UCR officials highlighted Tuesday were the search for an executive director for the university's new Palm Desert campus and the continuation of a 50th anniversary fund-raising campaign. The aim is to raise $50 million in donations by the end of 2005, Cordova said. So far the campaign has raised $19.5 million, she said.