PITTSBURGH (TNS) — Penn State will consolidate the leadership at 11 branch campuses, including five in Western Pennsylvania, in an effort to reduce administrative costs at these financially hurting campuses.

Penn State Behrend in Erie is not impacted by the leadership restructure plan, which involves 11 campuses throughout the state.

Beginning July 1, the New Kensington, Greater Allegheny and Fayette campuses will be headed by Megan Nagel, who currently leads the Greater Allegheny campus in McKeesport. Fayette Chancellor W. Charles Patrick will retire at the end of the month, while New Kensington Chancellor Kevin Snider will remain in his role until Dec. 31 to assist in the transition process.

Likewise, leadership at the Beaver and Shenango campuses will be put under one umbrella, with Beaver Chancellor Carey McDougall shepherding both institutions.

Other impacted campuses include York, Brandywine, Mont Alto, Wilkes-Barre, Scranton and Hazleton.

”Over time we will refine the campus leadership structure as needs evolve to support a streamlined and responsive educational experience for students across our campuses,” Margo DelliCarpini, Penn State’s vice president for commonwealth campuses and executive chancellor, said in a news release. “It’s important to note that our campuses will maintain their individual identities. Each one has strengths, and our goal is to build on those and scale them across the commonwealth.”

University officials have expressed hope that consolidations will enhance collaboration opportunities at the branch campuses.

The restructure is focused around Penn State’s University College, an administrative umbrella of 14 branch campuses that offer baccalaureate and associate degree pathways in addition to 2+2 transition opportunities from satellite campuses to the main campus in University Park.

The restructure comes as Penn State faces a multi-million dollar deficit that university leaders want to resolve by 2025.

This deficit prompted Penn State leaders to propose a $54 million, or 14%, cut at the branch campuses, most of which face enrollment declines. In Western Pennsylvania, these campuses saw their student populations fall anywhere between 26% and 51% from 2013 to 2022.

The leadership plan was announced Tuesday, when the university also announced that one in 10 branch campus employees will leave the university, opting for a buyout.

School officials said on Tuesday that 383 employees — or 21% of those eligible — took the voluntary separation incentive package introduced in May.

It is estimated that these departures will add up to $43 million in savings for the university, though actual savings won’t be known until later in the year.

Over three-fourths of the departing employees are staff. Those eligible included tenure-line faculty, full-time staff and administrators.

“We must find ways to be more efficient in using the university’s limited resources while continuing to deliver on our land-grant mission to create new knowledge and lift up students from across the commonwealth and beyond through higher education,” Tracy Langkilde, Penn State’s interim executive vice president and provost, said in a news release.

“The VSIP helped us do that, and it has presented an opportunity to reconfigure our operations across our campuses to make each Penn State campus stronger and more viable.”

The separation package gave employees the choice to retire or pursue other jobs in exchange for payment equal to a year of their base salaries.

Penn State leaders previously said they didn’t have a target number of employees that they hoped would voluntarily leave. The 20 commonwealth campuses currently employ more than 1,600 full-time faculty members and over 1,800 full-time staff and administrators.

DelliCarpini told the Post-Gazette that buyouts were one way the university hoped to manage its budget.

But some professors have expressed concerns that the buyouts will put a strain on faculty and staff who remain at the campuses and diminish the number of tenured professors at these campuses.

It’s still unknown whether layoffs or campus closures could eventually hit the branch campuses.

Of employees who took the separation package, over half will leave the university on June 28. The remaining employees will depart by Dec. 31.