My name is Marie Shiflet. I am an Illinois Tech parent. I have hired more than 70 Illinois Tech graduates over the years into Fortune 100 companies through university recruiting programs. I have spent a couple hundred thousand dollars on tuition, housing, and fees for my child to complete both their BS and MS at Illinois Tech. As of this week, my student is leaving their PhD program at Illinois Tech and moving to a program at another academic institution. The university has broken trust with us and failed to provide the education promised.
As a business leader, I understand the factors outside of the university’s control that can hamper the business model. That does not explain the broken financial model and issues with operating expense I see when I read the financial statements. It does not explain HOW the university has managed and continues to manage the financial challenges. It does not excuse the failed process of communication to the Illinois Tech students, faculty, staff, and community. There is clear evidence that leadership was aware of growing financial issues as far back as fall of 2025. In the spring of 2026, there was evidence of financial concerns and even rumors of financial malfeasance on that part of university administration and staff. It was clear at that time that the senior administration was fully aware of these challenges. The awareness of the depth of financial issues and corresponding failure to notify students in a timely manner of the risk to their education, their programs and their futures is, at minimum, a breach of trust. At worst, it is a breach of contract.
By waiting to communicate until the week before classes started rather than taking decisive action last school year when financial issues were apparent, the senior administration of the university caused irreparable harm to students, faculty, and the Illinois Tech community.
And I have questions for senior leadership…
Accreditation & Compliance issues:
- Did you notify the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) of the substantive changes you made to recently certified programs as required?
- Did you notify the Illinois Board of Higher Education (IBHE) of the substantive changes you made to academic departments and programs as required?
- Have you complied with all the reporting requirements under Title IV?
- Where are the required teach out plans for cancelled or highly disrupted academic programs and departments?
- Where is the required public web page with teach out plans?
- Where is the documented information about the academic qualifications of faculty newly assigned to departments that once had specialized faculty?
- What are you doing proactively to ensure that the university does not lose accreditation and put at risk the academic reputation of every current and former student? What are you doing to ensure that faculty are retained and do not lose credibility academically due to the risk to accreditation?
Student Concerns:
I recently had a group of students in my house and here were just some of their issues:
- One program moved from Psychology to the Business School, potentially shifting the program from STEM to a non-stem category impacting visa eligibility for multiple students, putting future employment at risk. How are you supporting students who are here with STEM-dependent visas who now may be in non-STEM departments?
- No clarity has been provided regarding the specific qualifications of new faculty – especially critical for PhD students who must be supervised by a qualified PhD. Where and when will you be providing written communication to validate the qualifications of faculty in specific programs? Students chose Illinois Tech based on credentialed faculty. You have an obligation to ensure that faculty meet all the criteria of specific programs and degree paths.
- No clarity has been provided about how thesis requirements will be managed. Where and when will you be providing written documentation of thesis requirements and details on thesis supervision?
- No clarity has been provided about how comprehensive exams will be managed and graded – just a vague statement that they will have a plan. Where and when will you be providing written documentation of how comprehensive exams will be managed and supervised?
- No clarity has been provided regarding how PhD supervision and the dissertation committee process will be managed. Where and when will you be providing written documentation of how dissertation processes will be supervised and managed?
- Graduate assistants have been contracted as adjuncts and signed offer letters to teach fall classes following the layoffs. They were then removed at the last moment and replaced by another faculty member outside the specific program of study and without any evidence of requisite training or skills to teach the section. In some cases, these students spent hours preparing for classes and have received NO COMPENSATION for their labor. How will you compensate graduate instructors for hours worked in preparation for fall classes even if they are now not teaching those sections?
- ABD students have no known faculty advisor or have been provided with the name of an advisor who does not possess an appropriate PhD in a relevant area of study. When and where will you be providing written documentation of the assignment of faculty advisors and their specific qualifications as it pertains to each specific program of study?
- Students have shared that they arrived on campus and were not provided with the dorm room they had contracted for with the university. They scrambled and were placed into temporary housing. As of writing this, they have no written agreement for housing, no commitment that their temporary location will be permanent for the semester and were told they would not be able to receive a refund on their deposit. How is this not a violation of landlord tenant laws? How are students expected to concentrate on their education when their housing situation is unclear? How will you resolve this issue for the students?
Employment Law issues:
- Did you provide required WARN notices to the Fed and State government? As of today, I do not see any disclosures on the WARN website at either Federal or State level.
- Did you provide the appropriate written WARN notices to faculty and staff?
- Did you issue the required OWBPA notices to eliminated employees over the age of 40?
- Did you provide clear disclosure of revocation periods in writing as the law requires?
Those are the issues. Here are just some of the impacts.
For Students & Faculty:
- Students who are in cancelled or gutted programs are not getting transparent communication or required teach out plans to support their personal decision making. They are leaving.
- As they leave, they have often found no programs in the same field of study that will allow them to transfer credits and receive their advanced degrees without taking an additional year or more of courses.
- When they do find programs, the delay in enrollment is often profound – some as late as fall 2027.
- The cost of these decisions by the senior administration are staggering – in sunk costs for tuition, housing, travel, and fees which can’t be recovered.
- The cost in lost time is immeasurable.
- As of today, we have been unable to get any clarity on my child’s PhD program and what little has been communicated has often been contradicted by another communication just a day later.
- We have lost all faith and trust in Illinois Tech. For my own child, they are being forced to change their focus and work towards a different PhD at a new institution. They can’t get the time spent in Illinois Tech’s program back. They must start over.
- For students with student loans, the risks are serious. If they are unable to find an appropriate program of study, they risk having to pay back loans before degrees are granted – degrees without which they may be unable to find work that will pay the bills.
- Visa students are in peril. If they are unable to find an appropriate program of study and enroll at the fulltime level, they risk being forced to leave the country.
- For students who remain, the lack of communication and transparency further erodes trust. This is not sustainable. They will leave.
- For the students who are in ‘temporary’ housing – the risk of being homeless is real and frightening.
- Professors who have been released are scrambling to find other employment at a time when peer institutions have already confirmed fall classes and staffing levels. The senior administration’s delay in making these decisions and in communicating workforce reductions when the financial challenges were obvious has caused irreparable financial harm to a group of incredibly talented and qualified academic leaders.
- For remaining faculty, they are often being forced, to take on more workload without additional compensation.
- For remaining faculty, they are left without the resources to adequately support their classes, programs and research.
- For remaining faculty, they are left without any trust in the current senior administration
For the Community:
- For those who have donated to the university there is broken trust
- Many professors who raised money have been let go without any clear plans to sustain funded research
- For employers, word of what has transpired here at Illinois Tech has spread among my peers in the technology sector. Concerns over the financial issues are profound but now being overshadowed by concerns about ongoing accreditation and the way students are being treated.
The world is watching. How do you respond?
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