EDMONTON -- The University of Alberta can save more than $120-million by 2022 by restructuring, according to President-elect Bill Flanagan.

Flanagan laid out his plans during a virtual town hall on Tuesday.

He said transforming the school's organization and academic structures will save on costs.

"We have eighteen faculties. Our peer institutions that have demonstrated these savings typically have faculties between six to ten," Flanagan said.

He hopes that using technology to reach students will allow the university to expand enrollment to 50,000 students and bring in more money.

"One might be tempted to think it's not possible that we could generate savings of that amount, it‘s not possible that we could take on additional students," Flanagan said. "I actually think that there is some extraordinary potential for us to engage in a strategic transformation that will stabilize the university*s financial position."

The school is facing a $100-million shortfall after the provincial government reduced its post-secondary funding in the February budget.

Flanagan wrote in a blog post last week that the U of A must rise to the challenge and transform. He said the university would "rethink and restructure" how its faculties are organized, including potentially cancellation of some classes. The school will also re-examine how it uses and develops its assets.

The U of A announced in March that it was cutting 1,000 jobs and increasing tuition to help deal with the funding shortfall.

Changes to the academic structure and calendar are expected to be in effect for the fall while the full plan may take a year to implement.