In the summer of 2010, it became clear to campus leadership at both the University of Colorado Denver and University of Colorado Boulder that an extraordinary review of the College of Architecture and Planning (CAP) had to be undertaken. Since 1992, when the programs on the two campuses were reunited, graduate programs have been regularly reviewed in keeping with accreditation requirements and the university’s program review mandate. However, during the same time period, the undergraduate program had not undergone program review, nor had the college as a whole. The provosts and the chancellors of the two campuses agreed that a joint review of all programs and of the structure of the college should be undertaken. Associate Vice Chancellor Marguerite Childs at Denver and Associate Vice Chancellor Jeff Cox at Boulder were given the task of overseeing the review.
By October 2010, a process was in place. It called upon the College of Architecture and Planning to write a self-study. It requested some needed information from relevant offices on both campuses. It organized an internal review committee with representatives from both campuses and outlined the selection process of an expanded external review committee. Finally, it called for the creation of a joint-campus program review panel, to be chaired by Childs and Cox, to issue a final report to the two provosts.
Provosts Russell L. Moore (Boulder) and Roderick Nairn (Denver) made clear their desire that the process be completed during the 2010-11 academic year. The self-study was delivered in a timely fashion. The internal review committee submitted its report on February 11, 2011. The external review committee visited the university on March 13-16, 2011, and promptly issued its report. The joint-campus program review panel issued its report, which is a public document, on June 15, 2011:
Joint Campus Program Review Panel Report
On September 16, 2011, the two provosts met with College of Architecture and Planning faculty and staff to discuss next steps in the process. On September 19, 2011, they made public their exchange of letters with Chancellors Philip P. DiStefano (Boulder) and Jerry Wartgow (Denver) regarding a transition period leading to well-defined independent Denver and Boulder programs:
Letter from the Chancellors (September 12, 2011)