Committee Members
- Ingrid Fulmer, Office of the Provost, Chair
- Domonic Cobb, Office of Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs
- Mani Golparvar-Fard, Grainger College of Engineering
- Madhu Khanna, Institute for Sustainability, Energy and Environment
- Ben Lough, School of Social Work
- Angie Lyons, College of Agricultural and Consumer Economics and Senate
- Drew MacGregor, Office of the Chief Information Officer
- Sharee Robinson, Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation
- Megan Sapp-Nelson, University Library
- Deepak Somaya, Gies College of Business
- Shaowen Wang, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
- Staci Provezis, Office of the Provost, ex officio
Charge Letter
Dear Colleagues,
To continue thriving in 2030 and beyond, the University of Illinois must stay innovative in our strategic thinking. We will do so by expanding our ability to anticipate and predict future challenges and opportunities so we are prepared to face them directly. This work happens amid unprecedented and ongoing changes around us, including technology, the global social and political landscape, the natural environment, and more. Luckily, we are uniquely positioned here at the University of Illinois, surrounded by some of the world’s brightest minds and embracing a distinctively “Illinois” way of collaborating to think boldly and solve problems.
Inspired by the Boldly Illinois strategic framework, the Boldly Illinois Horizon Groups will bring together a diverse set of thinkers to scan the environment beyond the university, identifying and analyzing trends, new technologies, significant ideas, and shifting paradigms that indicate the upcoming waves of opportunities and challenges that may affect the campus over the next 10+ years. Through these efforts, the Horizon Groups will strengthen our strategic planning capabilities, enabling us to better align our goals, values, and strengths with these impending changes as we boldly serve our community, nation, and the world.
The Horizon Group initiative comprises two parts: this Steering Committee and focused, shorter-duration Horizon Groups oriented around particular topics or themes (see attachment A for the committee structure). Initially, the Steering Committee will develop the process for overseeing the Horizon Groups and will oversee one group (to be appointed in fall 2025) as a pilot to evaluate and, if needed, refine its process. Once past the pilot phase, the Steering Committee will coordinate the work of one or more Horizon Groups at a time. In addition, the Steering Committee may be asked by the Provost’s Office to take on a topic for study from time to time.
Operationally, it is currently envisioned that each Horizon Group will study and report on a specific topic or issue, utilizing a brief semi-standardized report format. The Groups will typically not work in isolation but will engage the campus in various ways. In providing an overview and recommendations related to their topic, Horizon Groups will be encouraged to scan the environment outside the university, across higher education, and the higher education sector to identify and analyze trends, opportunities, and challenges related to their topic that are likely to affect the University of Illinois over the next 10+ years. Their final reports should be structured to provide an overview of the topic or issue and to highlight opportunities and challenges that University leadership needs to be aware of in ongoing and future strategic planning. As part of their final report, Horizon Groups should also curate a set of introductory or background resources on the focal topic (e.g., in a Box or Teams folder). The Steering Committee will receive the reports from each Horizon Group and may offer additional insights or commentary in a separate memo (e.g., identifying commonalities or synergies with the work of other Horizon Groups or other task forces and committees on campus). The Steering Committee will then forward the Horizon Group report, along with any additional commentary, to the Provost for use in future campus conversations and strategic planning activities.
Thank you for agreeing to serve on this important committee. Your expertise and vision will help ensure that the University of Illinois is prepared to continue to boldly fulfill its mission to serve the people of Illinois, the nation, and beyond.
Specifically, I ask the Steering Committee to:
- Create and document a simple, semi-standardized process and deliverable for each Horizon Group to use. This template should include a brief orientation, workflow, timeline, and a short (4-5 pages, plus attachments) deliverable template to be shared with and utilized by each of the Boldly Illinois Horizon Groups. The goal of this approach is to assist each of the groups in focusing, working expeditiously, and providing a concise and useful deliverable that will inform future strategic planning by the Provost’s office and other units.
- Before the start of each Horizon Group’s work (beginning with the first pilot task force in fall 2025), members of the Steering Committee should coordinate a brief charge meeting/ orientation that includes the Provost and the Horizon Group members to: (1) charge the group (the Provost will prepare separate charge letters for each Horizon Group); (2) discuss timelines, check-in points, and answer questions from the group about the scope of the work, final report, etc.; and (3) provide any readings or information that the Steering Committee has that may serve as useful background for the group. These background readings may include news articles, higher education or other industry reports, reports of previous committees charged by the Provost’s office or the System office that made recommendations on related or adjacent topics.
- Forward to the Provost’s office the completed Horizon Group reports, along with any pertinent comments or observations from the steering committee.
- In addition to overseeing the work of the groups the Steering Committee is tasked with developing a mechanism to receive and evaluate proposals from the campus community and provide recommendations to the Provost for future Horizon Groups.
- The Steering Committee should report briefly on its work before the end of each calendar year, identifying any overarching common themes and relationships among different Horizon Group reports that could be important for future strategic planning and making recommendations for further improving the Boldly Illinois Horizon Groups initiative.
Thank you for accepting this responsibility, and I look forward to the positive impact that the Boldly Illinois Horizon Groups Steering Committee will have on our commitment to academic excellence, now and into 2030 and beyond. I am excited about what we can accomplish together, drawing upon the excellence and imagination across our campus.
Sincerely,
John Coleman
Provost