During his State of the University speech on Thursday, Illinois State University President Aondover Tarhule said despite $12 million in cuts in the last year, "funding pressures remain high and very concerning."
“Institutional costs are rising at twice, twice! our rate of revenues,” said Tarhule, who called the situation "difficult."
Tarhule told the assembled crowd the financial pressures include state disinvestment in higher education, and a need for more affordable tuition, higher compensation, and new student support programs.
He said cost containment, re-prioritizing funding, and improving student retention and graduation rates can all continue to help ISU address the pressures all colleges and universities face.
“Retention is not only good for the students and their families and society, it also helps with revenue,” said Tarhule.
Tarhule emphasized strategic goals of increasing retention rates from 81% to 85% and the six-year graduation rate from 64.5% to 70%, noting ISU loses about 800 students per year — retaining half of those would help significantly.
He said poor academic performance is not even in the top three reasons students leave school. Financial, family, and not being able to get into a desired major all come before poor grades.
Tarhule thanked campus constituencies that have engaged in the hard work of spending reallocation and re-imagining the budget process. That effort helped eliminate a $9 million budget deficit this year. Since mid-2024, ISU has cut $12 million from its budget and plans to implement a new budget model in fiscal year 2027.
“We now carry the baton and must navigate our own set of challenges, such as demographic shifts, fiscal pressures, increasing public skepticism, rapidly changing technologies, and shifting workforce expectations — all amid a climate of political uncertainty,” said Tarhule.
“I invite all members of our Redbird community to come together with unity and resolve, as we have always done in times of adversity.”
Following the speech, Tarhule intimated to reporters that ISU might have room to schedule classes more efficiently than it does now.
“Instead of teaching very low-enrolled classes, instead of teaching five or six classes, we can make sure those classes are all filled, those are the types of examples that can help us,” said Tarhule.
There can be no single solution, he said; addressing the fiscal challenges will have to come “a little bit here, a little bit there.”
“This moment calls for courage, clarity, and creativity. And Illinois State University will not sit back and wait to respond,” he said.
Comprehensive campaign, other achievements
Tarhule said planning is under way for the institution’s third comprehensive fundraising campaign.
“We are still working on identifying the strategic pillars of that campaign, but I can tell you that student success is going to be a big deal. There are many institutions that have ‘Promise Programs’ that allow students in good academic standing to stay and complete their degrees. That’s an idea I am interested in exploring to see if we can find enough support and enough donors,” he said.
The last such effort was a seven-year campaign that ended in 2020, raising $181 million.
Pat Vickerman, vice president for Alumni and Advancement, said as is customary, there will be a quiet phase to the campaign before public appeals are made. The campaign will likely be of shorter duration than the last one and the public phase might not start until perhaps 2027, said Vickerman.
Tarhule also celebrated $60 million in improvements to campus facilities in the last year, campus re-accreditation, strong enrollment for the fall term, $31 million in research funding garnered by faculty, record fundraising, and progress on Wonsook Kim College of Fine Arts reconstruction [groundbreaking planned this winter] and the new College of Engineering facility in Bloomington [ribbon cutting in the fall on GE Road].
Artificial intelligence
The ISU president promoted an initiative by the provost to integrate AI into the campus — not as a threat but as an opportunity.
“As somebody once said, if every student has more knowledge in the palm of their hands than most of the professors they have, what does learning mean? What should be our role? I think it is fundamentally reshaping and forcing us to rethink what does it mean to teach or what is the best way to deliver knowledge,” said Tarhule.
He said by incorporating AI into the curriculum, expanding its role in research, and using it in daily operations, ISU will equip students to succeed in a future that requires adaptability and innovation.
The Adaptive Edge Institute led by Roy Magnuson is designed to help students navigate challenges driven by emerging technologies such as, but not limited to, AI.
“This is a strategic investment in our future and a clear message: Illinois State University will lead the way in shaping what education looks like in an era of continuous transformation,” said Tarhule.
