Academic Program Check-Ins

Project 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 working group recommendation was to initiate Annual Check-Ins for each academic program to guide strategic decisions about their trajectory. These Check-Ins will include various measures designed with inclusivity and transparency in mind; they are based on existing data, policies, and processes, as well as factors including market intelligence and a brief program self-study. Data and perspectives from these Check-Ins will help CU Denver's faculty and academic leaders assess and position programs for long-term strength and viability, maximize resource efficiency, and increase the collective value of our academic offerings to students. 

Throughout 2025, Provost team members have been meeting with groups across campus to discuss how this process will be operationalized, and to gather feedback to guide process refinement testing. Data dashboards related to this process were introduced in August, and program self-studies took place in Fall 2025. Taken together, these inputs are guiding constituent dialogue and data-driven action steps for identified programs progressing in the spring 2026 semester. 

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.