UIS College of Health, Science, and Technology Unveils Five-Year Vision and Strategic Framework
At last week’s All-College meeting, the University of Illinois Springfield’s College of Health, Science, and Technology (CHST) unveiled a bold plan to reshape the next five years of its work. Anchored in a framework known as 5-3-1-90, the strategy combines long-term vision with near-term execution, all under this year’s rallying cry: “Raise the Floor.”
Avoiding Common Traps
In his remarks, CHST Dean Travis Bland cautioned against two common pitfalls that can derail organizations: bike-shedding focusing on trivial matters at the expense of major decisions and the end of history illusion the tendency to believe today’s version of an institution is final, underestimating its capacity for change.
“Raising the floor means resisting those traps,” Bland said. “It’s about strengthening the fundamentals while embracing the growth ahead.”
5 - Year Vision
At the top of the 5-3-1-90 framework is a sweeping five-year vision. By 2030, CHST intends for UIS to be recognized for its transformative impact in health, science, and technology. The college has set specific markers: enrollment of 2,000 students, more than $5 million in external research funding, 80 percent of student touchpoints powered by AI and behavioral science, three-quarters of faculty using AI tools, and students spending more time in labs, studios, and co-ops than in traditional lectures.
3 - Year Strategic Priorities
To move toward that vision, the college identified three three-year priorities:
- Academic Portfolio Development — aligning every program with stackable credentials, accelerated pathways, or industry-embedded learning.
- Behaviorally Informed Student Support — ensuring every student receives proactive, personalized guidance from enrollment to graduation.
- Ed-Tech and Lab Infrastructure — creating adaptive teaching environments and investing in labs as a hallmark of CHST’s model
1 - Year Goals
This year, CHST has translated its 5-3-1-90 framework into ten one-year goals that reflect the college’s commitment to academic innovation. The work includes advancing new credential stacking and accelerated pathways, finalizing an ECCE revision proposal, and launching the School of Engineering with its first degree submission.
Excellence in learning and teaching is another key focus. CHST is embedding AI and technology learning outcomes into every degree, strengthening course quality standards, publishing prescriptive degree maps, and establishing a one-year rolling schedule to provide students and faculty with greater clarity.
Finally, the college is enhancing the student experience and infrastructure. Plans are underway to implement a case-managed advising model supported by AI, pilot new educational technologies, and invest in upgraded labs and instrumentation. Together, these efforts define what success looks like for 2025–26 and move CHST closer to its five-year vision.
90 - Day Commitments
The final piece of the 5-3-1-90 framework, the 90-day commitments, is already in motion. ECCE redesign efforts, curriculum mapping, AI outcome integration, and governance submissions for new degrees are underway. The college expects to wrap up the internal governance of new proposals in Environmental Science and Artificial Intelligence this fall.
“By linking vision to priorities, to goals, to 90-day action, we’re ensuring momentum,” Bland told faculty and staff.
Conclusion: Raising the Floor, Creating the Remarkable
As CHST works to “raise the floor,” the message is clear: the fundamentals must be excellent, but the future must also be bold. That boldness requires us not only to do things better, but to do things differently—to embrace the kind of Purple Cow thinking that makes our college stand out in ways that are impossible to ignore.
As Seth Godin wrote in Purple Cow, “In a crowded marketplace, fitting in is failing. In a busy marketplace, not standing out is the same as being invisible.” By raising the floor on quality and consistency while also creating programs, experiences, and innovations that are truly remarkable, CHST ensures it will not just keep pace with the future of higher education—it will help define it.
For more information about CHST Next—or to explore ways to support this work—please contact Dean Travis Bland at jblan7@uis.edu