UIS chancellor outlines 'North Star' plan to address academic portfolio, deficit and retention

Chancellor Janet Gooch told the University of Illinois Board of Trustees on March 25, 2025 that the University of Illinois Springfield (UIS) has launched a North Star initiative focused on three strategic priorities: program portfolio review, fiscal stabilization and improved student persistence.

Gooch outlined a timeline and concrete steps for each priority, saying the initiative will guide decisions over the next two to three years. “North Star will serve as our guide as we strive to reshape the University for operational efficiency and academic excellence to ensure long term sustainability and relevance,” she said.

Why it matters: Gooch said UIS faces a structural deficit and enrollment pressures typical of regional public universities. The chancellor presented specific targets and interim actions intended to return UIS to balanced annual budgets while also protecting core student support and program quality.

Key points from the presentation

- Program review: An academic portfolio review produced a framework that will place programs into three categories — “enrich,” “maintain” and “reform or sunset.” Programs will receive dashboard reports by June 2025 and final decisions are expected by the end of fall 2025. The review used three higher‑order criteria: demand and viability, institutional and community impact, and versatility and effectiveness.

- Fiscal targets and actions: Gooch said UIS ran a $6.5 million deficit last fiscal year and that, after a fall Census Day update, the deficit was projected to grow to just under $9 million. The university set a goal to achieve annual budget balance by 2029. Immediate steps described included a hiring slowdown, a voluntary separation plan that is in its final stages, mid‑cycle budget adjustments and a space utilization study with plans to implement changes this summer.

- Student retention: A retention plan steering committee was established with representatives from academic affairs, student affairs, and enrollment management to produce institution‑wide retention work focused on academic support, wellness and bridge programs.

Details and framing

Gooch described specific operational changes already underway: an average of roughly 2% in fiscal‑year 2025 budget reductions implemented systemwide at UIS (with divisional reductions averaging about 3 percent in some scenarios), promotion of short session courses to boost enrollment, a completed space utilization study and exploration of hotel‑style office space to consolidate underused facilities. She said the university created an Office of Institutional Research and Effectiveness to improve data‑driven decisions.

Gooch also noted the recently settled three‑year contract with the university’s non‑tenure track faculty bargaining unit and said that shared governance, data and transparency will guide difficult decisions.

Quotation

“North Star will serve as our guide as we strive to reshape the University for operational efficiency and academic excellence to ensure long term sustainability and relevance,” Chancellor Janet Gooch said.

What to watch

Gooch set a schedule for program dashboards in June 2025 and final portfolio decisions by the end of fall 2025. She described the voluntary separation plan as concluding shortly and said implementation of space and staffing changes could begin in summer 2025. Trustees asked no formal question recorded in the public portion that changed those timelines.

Provenance

Chancellor Janet Gooch presentation – transcript excerpt: “These are areas if strengthened that will serve as the first domino in a series of steps that must occur to help us remain student centered and be market relevant and fiscally healthy… North Star will serve as our guide as we strive to reshape the University for operational efficiency and academic excellence to ensure long term sustainability and relevance.” (transcript s=1784.55 to e=1831.48 and s=1831.48 to e=1893.84)