SMART Goals (2020–2025)

Our strategic priorities are supported by SMART Goals, which are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely. This section describes the major goals for each priority. Numerical targets are for achievement by FY25, unless otherwise indicated.

1. Grow and Develop Our Undergraduate and Graduate Student Bodies (with an emphasis on student success before and after graduation)
   • Increase the undergraduate student population to 4,000
   • Increase the total on campus student population to 8,000
   • Increase retention of first-year full-time students to second-year full-time students to 95 percent
   • Increase the undergraduate graduation rate to 77 percent
   • Exceed the AITU placement average (currently 90 percent per year) for all graduates at the time of graduation
   • Reinvigorate IPRO 3.0 so that 90-plus percent of all students express strong satisfaction with their experiences
   • Redesign the core curriculum by FY22
   • Ensure that all students have a faculty mentor
   • Develop a robust marketing campaign to accelerate growth
   • Improve the student life experience through renovation of the future Kacek Hall and Cunningham Hall, and the improvement of academic facilities
2. Fully Realize Our Identity as the Premier Technology-Focused University in Chicago and One of the Top Five Nationally
   • Launch a College of Computing by 2021 that will integrate our campus-wide offerings in computational areas
   • Infuse computing, computational, and data-analytic skills into all curricula on campus
   • Support the development of interdisciplinary degree programs by 2021 that incorporate significant computing and computational skills
   • Develop a campus-wide strategy and organization for corporate engagement that will lead to significantly better placement, increased corporate sponsorship of research and internships, and deeper engagement with more than 100 corporate partners by 2021
   • Grow and enhance our historic strengths in engineering, science, architecture, law, business, and
     design, and infuse them with enabling technology
   • Invest in 50 new faculty hires who effectively bridge historic areas of strength on campus with technology-related portions of the academy
3. Strengthen Our Finances to Enable Strategic Investment Each Year
   • Launch at least five new successful revenue initiatives that produce at least $5 million in annual income per initiative
   • Increase revenues and control expenses to achieve a cash flow margin of 8 percent
   • Centralize technology systems and services across campus targeting technology consolidation, enterprise system streamlining, data validation and storage, automation, and training to save at least $1 million annually
   • Implement a talent management and professional development system by fall 2020
   • Initiate a comprehensive fundraising campaign to allow investment in facilities, faculty, and programs that will be completed in 2025 and raise in excess of $350 million.
   • Engage our alumni, trustees, and friends in developing the future of the university and achieve more than 30 percent of our undergraduate alumni giving to the university each year
4. Become a Leading University by 2025 in the Development and Delivery of Our Research and Educational Programs
   • Establish a Faculty Teaching and Learning Center that will enable faculty development in grant writing, online instructional skills, and effective pedagogy by 2021.
   • Establish a Faculty Leadership Program to develop promising faculty for both research and administrative campus leadership roles.
   • Develop a campus-wide program in fostering and forging collaborative and interdisciplinary academic and research programs.
   • Empower our campus-wide leadership team to focus on improving diversity and inclusion among our faculty and staff; implement strategies that ensure we develop a welcoming and inclusive culture.

Each SMART Goal will have an identified leader under the guidance of the president and the provost who will be responsible for the attainment of the goal and have the responsibility and authority to initiate action aimed at the achievement of each goal. Each SMART Goal will also have a collaborative team of stakeholders committed to its accomplishment. Progress on goals will be assessed quarterly. The initial set of assignments for the various SMART goals is provided in the following table: