Academic Program Check-Ins
Background
In Fall 2023, CU Denver’s Office of the Provost launched an Academic Transformation initiative to help CU Denver navigate an evolving higher education landscape. A charge of this project’s Academic Program Viability and Curricular Innovation working group was to “develop a clear, data-informed, and transparent set of processes and protocols for the early ongoing detection and required realignment of academic programs to current workforce needs and learner demand.”
A central recommendation of this working group was to initiate Annual Check-Ins for each academic program to help guide strategic decisions about their trajectory. Starting in Winter 2025, this webpage will be periodically updated with process details, timeline, and trainings for involved constituents.
Academic Program Check-Ins: In a Nutshell
Annual Check-Ins for each academic program will incorporate various measures—based on existing data, policies, and processes, as well as factors including market intelligence and a brief program self-assessment. These criteria and this process are being designed with values of inclusivity and transparency in mind: they build upon existing data and factors such as market intelligence and a brief program assessment, in alignment with existing policies and processes, and they will continue to be reviewed and adjusted based on efficacy and community feedback.
Data and perspectives from these Annual Check-Ins will help CU Denver’s faculty and academic leaders assess and position programs for long-term strength and viability, maximize the efficiency of resource allocation, and increase the collective value of our academic offerings to students.
In February 2025, Provost team members began meeting with groups across campus to discuss how the working group’s recommendations will be operationalized in subsequent months, and to gather feedback to guide development of this process. Spring and summer of 2025 will be devoted to training, testing, and refining processes and metrics based on community input, as we continue to co-create infrastructure for the Check-Ins that will begin this fall, with constituent dialogue and data-driven action steps for identified programs progressing in the spring 2026 semester.
Spring 2025 Workshops
Four workshops are being developed to prepare CU Denver constituents for this process. They will be available via Zoom and through recordings posted on this page. You can register for any session of the four workshops here:
RSVP for Workshops
Why We Are Doing This
Since the Academic Program Viability and Curricular Innovation working group on this topic began its efforts 15 months ago, its participants—representing a cross-section of faculty, staff, and academic leadership—have recognized various reasons to develop an inclusive, systematic process to measure academic program viability and foster curricular innovation. For example, identification of a program’s challenges may prompt innovative ideas, such as shifts in program focus or outreach. Recognition of growth potential may suggest where targeted investments might drive enrollment. The working group has recommended a “no surprise” approach, whereby any considerations that may emerge from the Check-Ins are the result of data, dialogue (incorporating faculty and staff as well as academic and administrative leaders) and a transparent process.
While this initiative is vital for CU Denver’s long-term strength and success, we are mindful of the need to mitigate workload impacts. We are prioritizing efficiencies through dashboards, templates, the leveraging of existing data, and building on already-developed groundwork by the originating working group (whose report can be reviewed here). This effort is about synthesizing information we already have to inform determinations about the future direction of academic programs.
Process Timeline Overview
2023-2024
Academic Program Viability and Curricular Innovation Working Group develops report, recommendations.
2025
January - February
Operationalization planning work begins
March - May
Process training and project socialization, with feedback incorporated into the process
Summer
Practice run of data collection, individualized sessions to support programs
Fall
Annual Check-Ins begin; Programs submit dashboards and self-study documentations to Deans (late Fall)
2026
Winter
Programs begin work on action next steps
Spring
Operationalization of action strategies
Questions?
Contact Katie Linder, associate vice chancellor for academic innovation and strategy, or Beth Myers, associate vice chancellor for academic planning and institutional effectiveness.