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One of the biggest quandaries for the University of California campuses during its budget crisis is how to maintain academic excellence while cutting costs and resources. But for the time being, UCLA Chancellor Gene Block may have found a way to do just that.

The solution lies in a $7 million allocation of “bridge” money—funds that will help cover immediate budget gaps while academic departments figure out how to adjust to a slimmer budget in the long term. Much of the money is expected to go towards untenured teaching staff.

Block’s plan pays special attention to TA’s, a move that follows the costly TA strike at the University of Illinois last semester.

The University will also look into splitting science classes into separate lecture and lab components, allowing lab sizes to decrease as some students drop the ones they do not need.

The plan also includes an overall reduction in course offerings and class enrollment caps, which may mean massive shifts in where and when students get their credits.

“I think students are frustrated because we don’t have as many openings and it’s harder to get into classes,” said Victoria Sork, dean of Life Sciences. “To make sure they graduate on time, there will be more relevance on summer sessions.”

Block unveiled the plan to the whole UCLA student body in an email last week, a move that echoes other campuses efforts to be more transparent with students in dealing with budget cuts. Ohio University has also made unique effort at transparency in their dealings with budgetary problems by launching a website and hosting a series of forums on the topic.

Still, the approach is rare, one of the reasons fueling massive student frustration and large scale protests from students around California last semester.

In addition to cost-saving measures, Chancellor Block is encouraging students to lobby state and federal legislators for more public support of higher education.

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