TransformUS is no more.

Interim University of Saskatchewan president Gordon Barnhart announced Tuesday the university-wide cost-cutting measure will be replaced by other priorities.

“I want us to pave the path that’s right for us — changes that we pursue at the University of Saskatchewan will be driven by our mission, not money,” Barnhart said, addressing the campus community from the university’s Health Sciences Building.

TransformUS unfolded too quickly and was too top-heavy, he said. The university’s new priorities will focus more on teaching and research.

The cost-cutting plan was adopted by the university in January 2013 in an effort to avoid a projected $44.5-million deficit. The process cut the projected deficit by about $32 million thanks largely to a $25 million reduction in the school’s annual operating expenses, the university said in a media release.

The remaining $7-million reduction in the deficit was achieved through increased revenue.

“While the university has averted a financial crisis, longer-term financial risks continue to exist,” said interim provost and academic vice-president Ernie Barber.

“We will continue to take measures as necessary to ensure financial sustainability and to put our resources — human, financial and capital — behind our priorities.”

The new priorities include a higher commitment to aboriginal achievement, strengthening graduate studies, continued changes to the university libraries and a restructuring of the College of Medicine.

More discussion is needed to refine the priorities, Barnhart said.

A media relations officer at the university clarified that the new priorities — even if they resemble changes put forward by TransformUS — may not necessarily reflect TransformUS proposals.

The School of Public Health, for example, was set to merge with the Department of Community Health and Epidemiology as part of the College of Medicine. The new priority to restructure the College of Medicine may not necessarily reflect this proposal.

“There was a lot of good work done in the past few years that we shouldn’t disregard. However, we have to be sure we continue to listen in a meaningful way as we move forward,” said Barber.

Over 200 people left their positions on campus since TransformUS was adopted.

Barnhart did not guarantee the end of TransformUS means the university will no longer cut jobs in their efforts to reduce projected deficits.

The university said it’s projecting a $3-million deficit in 2014-15 and a $7-million deficit in 2015-16.

Former university president Ilene Busch-Vishniac, who oversaw much of TransformUS, was fired in May after the firing and re-hiring of a tenured professor who spoke out against the cuts as well as protests from students and staff complaining they were not adequately consulted throughout the process.

Barnhart, since replacing Busch-Vishniac, faced numerous questions regarding the future of TransformUS.

“I talked to students, faculty and staff every day as I walked around the Bowl. I talked to business leaders, government, alumni and donors,” Barnhart said. “My leadership team and I needed to talk to as many individuals and groups as possible and hear what they had to say before any decisions could be made.”

He said he will stay on as president until a permanent replacement is found.