DU’s Academic Transformation: The Case for Strategic Restructuring in 2026-27
Dear Colleagues,
Working together, we have spent the entire 2025-26 academic year engaged in conversations, analyses, and deliberations to navigate challenges and position DU for a bright future. And, perhaps just as importantly, we have identified necessary components for continuous improvement that will continue to put us in a strong position for years to come. We call this work collectively DU’s Academic Transformation. The work we started last fall has now reached a significant milestone, with the Board of Trustees approving the recommendations I will share throughout this message. But, as you will see, our work and collaboration remain critical in academic year 2026-27 as we pivot from designing to implementing the ideas coming out of our Academic Transformation journey.
I am sending this message to DU’s faculty and staff to aid in a shared understanding of the decisions approved last Friday and announced today to our campus community and beyond, regarding reorganizations and restructures and their rationale. I have heard clearly that community members want to participate and understand how data are leveraged to make these decisions, and in this message I seek to outline the ways in which faculty, staff, and student voices—across two years of task forces and a year of listening/learning sessions, as well as available evidence were used to arrive at the decisions described below.
Working together, we have spent the entire 2025-26 academic year engaged in conversations, analyses, and deliberations to navigate challenges and position DU for a bright future. And, perhaps just as importantly, we have identified necessary components for continuous improvement that will continue to put us in a strong position for years to come. We call this work collectively DU’s Academic Transformation. The work we started last fall has now reached a significant milestone, with the Board of Trustees approving the recommendations I will share throughout this message. But, as you will see, our work and collaboration remain critical in academic year 2026-27 as we pivot from designing to implementing the ideas coming out of our Academic Transformation journey.
I am sending this message to DU’s faculty and staff to aid in a shared understanding of the decisions approved last Friday and announced today to our campus community and beyond, regarding reorganizations and restructures and their rationale. I have heard clearly that community members want to participate and understand how data are leveraged to make these decisions, and in this message I seek to outline the ways in which faculty, staff, and student voices—across two years of task forces and a year of listening/learning sessions, as well as available evidence were used to arrive at the decisions described below.
Executive Summary
The following large-scale restructuring decisions were approved by the Board of Trustees on Friday, June 5.
- The Ritchie School of Engineering and Computer Science will be brought together with the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics.
- The Graduate School of Professional Psychology will join with the Morgridge College of Education and the Graduate School of Social Work.
- We will invest in interdisciplinary hubs that connect faculty, staff and students across and within colleges, beginning by:
- Charging the Mental Health and Wellness Collaborative to work with the new dean of the combined GSPP+GSSW+MCE units to integrate the training clinics from four existing colleges under one on-campus roof providing mental health to the community with a single-entry point, increasing our focus on behavioral health and interprofessional learning opportunities.
- Building a hub focused on preparing undergraduates for careers in health, integrating our existing Kinesiology program into the combined NSM+Ritchie unit and our existing Pre-Health program and investing to build stronger connections with campus and Denver area resources.
- Launching the IMP:Act Institute (Interdisciplinary Majors and Programs: Advancing Curricular Transformation) to support interdisciplinary degree paths and modular majors across the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Science.
- Charging interdisciplinary schools, like the Josef Korbel School of Global and Public Affairs, to grow their enrollment, strategically deepen their interdisciplinary connections with faculty across the entire University, and model flexible opportunities for students and collaborations among faculty.
- Joining several individual programs to strengthen offerings and showcase expertise. These changes include: integrating the performing arts by bringing together Lamont School of Music, theatre, and the Newman Center Presents under the College of Arts Humanities and Social Sciences and creating two new units in CAHSS to elevate Global Languages & Cultures and Communication & Media Arts.
Additionally, upon careful consideration, and acting on the recommendation of the Goal 3 Committee, and input from the Academic Unit Review Committees (AURC), the Chancellor, Board of Trustees, and I have approved the discontinuance of two academic departments:
- Religious Studies, within the College of Arts Humanities, and Social Sciences; and,
- Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE), within the Ritchie School of Engineering and Computer Science.
The AURC for Religious Studies recommended closure of the department and retention of at least an undergraduate minor and the master’s degree, as well as sufficient faculty to support these, with these faculty rehomed in relevant academic departments for their scholarship. We chose to close the department and retain the associated major, minor, and MA program via the IMP:Act Institute in CAHSS, mentioned above.
The AURC for ECE recommended evaluation across the next year and closure if particular metrics were not achieved. However, a dissenting opinion from the AURC recommended closure now for ECE, and that is the path we chose. The AURC recommended retaining the current degree offerings and integrating core faculty who robustly and effectively support those degree offerings within related departments, and we agreed.
To be clear, no academic programs are being eliminated. These changes are to streamline administrative structures and to better match student demand to faculty size in these areas. For the two departments being closed, all current academic programs for undergraduate majors, minors, and graduate degrees will continue at this time. New students will be joining in the 2026-27 academic year within these degree programs. All current students can continue in their degree programs and achieve their degrees. Any decisions about programs will occur in future years, through college and undergraduate/graduate council’s existing shared governance procedures. Students in these programs have directly received messages outlining these changes, their rationale, as well as reminding them of our commitment to their ability to complete their program of study.
Efforts to relocate faculty are already underway. Across these units, up to 23 faculty may be affected. Individual and group meetings have occurred throughout the last month with impacted faculty. Faculty have been offered four potential paths: (1) accelerated moves to meet teaching and administrative needs, (2) the option to explore rehoming to multiple other units over the next year, (3) transition into a general service unit, and (4) ongoing tenure relinquishment, retirement, and buyout options.
Change is difficult, and I recognize that not everyone will welcome it. However, I have also heard clearly how many of you do see and understand the challenges we face as a university and the need to be bold and innovative in response.
I invite you to review the remainder of this message and review the provided underlying evidence referenced and linked below, and to engage with me at the start of the 2026-27 academic year in the design and implementation of these large-scale decisions at the program, department, and curricular level.
The AURC for ECE recommended evaluation across the next year and closure if particular metrics were not achieved. However, a dissenting opinion from the AURC recommended closure now for ECE, and that is the path we chose. The AURC recommended retaining the current degree offerings and integrating core faculty who robustly and effectively support those degree offerings within related departments, and we agreed.
To be clear, no academic programs are being eliminated. These changes are to streamline administrative structures and to better match student demand to faculty size in these areas. For the two departments being closed, all current academic programs for undergraduate majors, minors, and graduate degrees will continue at this time. New students will be joining in the 2026-27 academic year within these degree programs. All current students can continue in their degree programs and achieve their degrees. Any decisions about programs will occur in future years, through college and undergraduate/graduate council’s existing shared governance procedures. Students in these programs have directly received messages outlining these changes, their rationale, as well as reminding them of our commitment to their ability to complete their program of study.
Efforts to relocate faculty are already underway. Across these units, up to 23 faculty may be affected. Individual and group meetings have occurred throughout the last month with impacted faculty. Faculty have been offered four potential paths: (1) accelerated moves to meet teaching and administrative needs, (2) the option to explore rehoming to multiple other units over the next year, (3) transition into a general service unit, and (4) ongoing tenure relinquishment, retirement, and buyout options.
Change is difficult, and I recognize that not everyone will welcome it. However, I have also heard clearly how many of you do see and understand the challenges we face as a university and the need to be bold and innovative in response.
I invite you to review the remainder of this message and review the provided underlying evidence referenced and linked below, and to engage with me at the start of the 2026-27 academic year in the design and implementation of these large-scale decisions at the program, department, and curricular level.
Contextual Overview
Across the past five years, the University of Denver has experienced decreasing revenue relative to expenses, driven primarily by a consistent decline in enrollments following a COVID-era peak. At that time, as enrollments grew; we increased expenses in service to our students. However, we are now facing the need, as is the case across higher education, to rebalance expenses to revenue but to do so in a way that positions us for sustainability and growth in our areas of strength—and to do so in an increasingly competitive marketplace.
The challenge of enrollment declines is compounded by linear national decreases in college-age students (commonly referred to as the enrollment cliff, which began to be realized in 2025), which is driving both reductions in the total number of high school graduates available to enroll in college and the increased competition for these students. Universities that have previously enjoyed robust waitlists and little reason to aggressively pursue students with competitive aid packages are now competing for students.
Further challenges impacting the bottom line for most higher education institutions in the last two years include impacts on federal grant funding, accessibility of federal and state loans, decreases in job placement for college graduates, federal pressures to reduce or eliminate supports previously provided to students and faculty of minoritized race and ethnicity, challenges for international students to pursue their education in the U.S., and public perceptions of the affordability and return on investment of college degrees.
Advances in AI have disrupted nearly every industry and, for education, are challenging the ways we teach, research, and operate. Additionally, an AI future increases and changes the demands on college graduates and, by extension, the ways in which we prepare them to thrive.
As a private University with both a residential undergraduate focus and a diverse array of graduate and professional programs, DU has felt the impacts from each of these broader social forces. Private universities have also been disproportionately impacted by revisions to U.S. News & World Report ranking criteria, and our overall University ranking has suffered as a result of factors over which we have minimal control and which can take years to change, though many of our individual programs retain strong rankings.
Across the nation, colleges and universities are closing and restructuring at unprecedented rates in an effort to reduce costs and align resources and programming to better meet the demands of the current and future landscape. In my nine months as your provost, I have personally gathered information about this national landscape, and have absorbed it from the trustees, the chancellor, vice chancellors, deans and vice provosts, students, individual stakeholders, faculty and staff senate, task forces, the goal 1-3 committees, and across the listening/learning sessions I held this year with all of DU’s academic units.
Both the high-level strategy and phased implementation plan described below have been informed by all of these efforts and are meant to be an inspirational blueprint to frame what we build together to successfully meet the challenges and opportunities of the national landscape while better aligning and investing in our strengths. We will continue to work on a university-wide academic vision across the 2026-27 academic year, building from this bold restructuring.
The challenge of enrollment declines is compounded by linear national decreases in college-age students (commonly referred to as the enrollment cliff, which began to be realized in 2025), which is driving both reductions in the total number of high school graduates available to enroll in college and the increased competition for these students. Universities that have previously enjoyed robust waitlists and little reason to aggressively pursue students with competitive aid packages are now competing for students.
Further challenges impacting the bottom line for most higher education institutions in the last two years include impacts on federal grant funding, accessibility of federal and state loans, decreases in job placement for college graduates, federal pressures to reduce or eliminate supports previously provided to students and faculty of minoritized race and ethnicity, challenges for international students to pursue their education in the U.S., and public perceptions of the affordability and return on investment of college degrees.
Advances in AI have disrupted nearly every industry and, for education, are challenging the ways we teach, research, and operate. Additionally, an AI future increases and changes the demands on college graduates and, by extension, the ways in which we prepare them to thrive.
As a private University with both a residential undergraduate focus and a diverse array of graduate and professional programs, DU has felt the impacts from each of these broader social forces. Private universities have also been disproportionately impacted by revisions to U.S. News & World Report ranking criteria, and our overall University ranking has suffered as a result of factors over which we have minimal control and which can take years to change, though many of our individual programs retain strong rankings.
Across the nation, colleges and universities are closing and restructuring at unprecedented rates in an effort to reduce costs and align resources and programming to better meet the demands of the current and future landscape. In my nine months as your provost, I have personally gathered information about this national landscape, and have absorbed it from the trustees, the chancellor, vice chancellors, deans and vice provosts, students, individual stakeholders, faculty and staff senate, task forces, the goal 1-3 committees, and across the listening/learning sessions I held this year with all of DU’s academic units.
Both the high-level strategy and phased implementation plan described below have been informed by all of these efforts and are meant to be an inspirational blueprint to frame what we build together to successfully meet the challenges and opportunities of the national landscape while better aligning and investing in our strengths. We will continue to work on a university-wide academic vision across the 2026-27 academic year, building from this bold restructuring.
University-Level Restructuring
Having reviewed all of the data sources referenced below, the Chancellor and I have made the assessment, now approved by the Board of Trustees, that the University would benefit from fewer academic units (Colleges and Schools) for several reasons. We currently have 10 colleges and several supportive academic programs with faculty appointments (e.g. Libraries, the Writing Center). The University’s academic colleges, schools, and units vary considerably in terms of size, scale, and scope. For a university of our size, it is financially inefficient to have so many colleges and schools, each with their own dean and administrative staff, particularly as we adjust to smaller incoming undergraduate and graduate classes.
As confirmed by the literature on higher education structures, silos (e.g., academic units) lead to barriers in collaboration, barriers for innovative interdisciplinary degrees, and thus reduced flexibility at a time when the national landscape—namely the students we aim to serve and their future employers—demands increased flexibility. While it is not inevitable, DU’s current structure has also led to wide variability in culture across colleges and schools, and the tendency for academic leaders to operate independently and without a focus on benefiting the entire university.
To address the barriers to collaboration and additive costs associated with our current number of siloed academic units, we are reducing the number of colleges and schools and will be engaging these units’ leadership, faculty, and staff to implement plans that address concomitant redundancies, to promote increased flexibility for faculty, students, and programs, and move toward greater alignment in strategy and vision across the colleges to support the University as a whole.
While change of this scope cannot all happen in one year, I am excited to announce the two large college restructures that will begin in academic year 2026-27. These reorganizations serve the goals of reducing silos and promoting enhanced interdisciplinary opportunities for our faculty and students by reducing redundant costs in administrators and administrative staff, and freeing resources to invest in innovation and strength in these new consolidated units in the years ahead.
Such large-scale consolidations of course come with challenges and require attention, resources, and a phased implementation, all of which will need to be informed by strong faculty, staff, and student engagement and input. I am confident that we can achieve better outcomes for our University with these decisions as one part of a larger academic strategic vision.
As confirmed by the literature on higher education structures, silos (e.g., academic units) lead to barriers in collaboration, barriers for innovative interdisciplinary degrees, and thus reduced flexibility at a time when the national landscape—namely the students we aim to serve and their future employers—demands increased flexibility. While it is not inevitable, DU’s current structure has also led to wide variability in culture across colleges and schools, and the tendency for academic leaders to operate independently and without a focus on benefiting the entire university.
To address the barriers to collaboration and additive costs associated with our current number of siloed academic units, we are reducing the number of colleges and schools and will be engaging these units’ leadership, faculty, and staff to implement plans that address concomitant redundancies, to promote increased flexibility for faculty, students, and programs, and move toward greater alignment in strategy and vision across the colleges to support the University as a whole.
While change of this scope cannot all happen in one year, I am excited to announce the two large college restructures that will begin in academic year 2026-27. These reorganizations serve the goals of reducing silos and promoting enhanced interdisciplinary opportunities for our faculty and students by reducing redundant costs in administrators and administrative staff, and freeing resources to invest in innovation and strength in these new consolidated units in the years ahead.
Such large-scale consolidations of course come with challenges and require attention, resources, and a phased implementation, all of which will need to be informed by strong faculty, staff, and student engagement and input. I am confident that we can achieve better outcomes for our University with these decisions as one part of a larger academic strategic vision.
Leadership of the New Colleges
To support the implementation of these decisions in a way that is grounded in our own strengths, we will promptly initiate two internal searches in September 2026 for the founding deans of each of the new colleges, with planned start dates in January 2027. All members of our community with aligned expertise, a strong track record for leadership, and demonstrated capacity to motivate innovation will be encouraged to apply. The search committees—which will involve faculty and staff of each impacted college or school, will be formed in September, and I will announce the search committee chairs in the coming weeks. If you are interested in serving on the search committees, please email provost@du.edu. The founding dean postings will become available over the summer, with an application due date of October 15, 2026.
Phased Implementation for College-Level Mergers
The task force reports from NSM/RSECS and MCE/GSSW/GSSP as well as the literature on national mergers identify the critical importance of planned and phased implementations as well as targeted investment. The phased implementation plan is as follows:
Unit-Specific Blueprints and Considered Input
Bring together the current College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics with the current Ritchie School of Engineering and Computer Science. Key data informing this decision include: DU has existing research clusters that could naturally strengthen and expand when united, and which are well aligned with Colorado and Denver priorities and the largest hiring sectors. NSM and RSECS currently possess strong existing research portfolios in molecular life sciences, bioengineering, biodiversity and ecology, and quantum. Independently, the divisions have scattered expertise in AI/data science that could rapidly advance if clustered and aligned. The Knoebel Institute for Healthy Aging demonstrates how synergies between NSM and RSECS rapidly expand interdisciplinary success and provide a model from which to build. As highlighted in the Joint NSM/RSECS taskforce, a merger could realize administrative efficiencies and address resource gaps, especially in marketing, recruitment, advising, and philanthropy. This also creates graduate and undergraduate academic program flexibility. An opportunity exists to develop workforce-responsive programming, using stackable credentials, and industry partnerships to address continuing education needs of our state. Programs already in the portfolio that could benefit from additional marketing are: data science, GIS, systems engineering, and cyber security. Because the conclusion of the joint task force in 2024 was not to merge these units, this decision was a difficult one to make. However, even since the 2024 report, continued falling enrollment and extreme staffing challenges have driven this decision. We embark on this transformation with acknowledgement of the challenges outlined in the original report regarding differences in culture, a need to support under-resourced staff, and investment in truly building out the interdisciplinary curricular programing.
Merge the current Morgridge College of Education with the current Graduate School of Social Work and the current Graduate School of Professional Psychology. Key data informing this decision include: shared training of professionals across all three colleges/schools in human health, education, and well-being; shared values across all three colleges/schools; shared accreditation across two of three schools; shared applied research focus; opportunities for interdisciplinary training; redundancies in some functions (e.g. accreditation, research support, marketing and enrollment); opportunities to share pedagogical expertise, foster research collaborations, and share resources. Further, enrollment challenges are different across the colleges/schools, which may offer the opportunity to stabilize college-level enrollment. Challenges identified that will need to be attended to include strained existing staff, cultural differences across units, workload alignment, and the need for investment in interdisciplinary opportunities to realize this potential. Notably, several programs also have strong rankings, distinct accreditation requirements, and donor engagement—thus retaining core features, visibility, and identity will be critical.
Collaborative Hubs
- Create an integrated on-campus clinic, following the groundbreaking and long-standing work of the Mental Health & Wellness Collaborative. The Collaborative includes members of GSPP, GSSW, MCE, as well as members from the Department of Psychology within CAHSS. While the Department of Psychology, its faculty and staff, will remain in CAHSS due to its mission alignment with undergraduate education and focus on training and research for basic/lab science, the clinics in that Department will be reviewed for integration within the larger on-campus clinic site. Integrating the clinics across these three colleges and the CAHSS Psychology clinics responds to a long-term request for better integration, more clarity in our community-facing offerings, and opportunities to serve the community more effectively, including by allowing our licensed faculty to see clients on campus should they choose. Challenges identified that will need to be addressed include differences in training requirements across the different programs, differences in culture and norms across the programs, different relationships, areas of focus, and reputations across programs, and integrating scheduling, billing, and coverage to reduce redundant costs. Each training program of course must maintain accreditation—and while the same accrediting bodies may be involved (e.g. APA), each program is and will remain independent.
- Create a Health hub, to increase our focus on health, both within and between traditional colleges. The health hub will include existing and new programs like our undergraduate programs in kinesiology, physiology, cognitive neuroscience, and pre-health programs currently in GSPP, CAHSS, and NSM. This exciting area for growth will also involve greater integration with DU and Denver-area athletics, hospitals, and health professional training programs. Challenges identified will include supporting bridge programs effectively, including via the placement and evaluation of faculty in appropriate APT homes, resourcing hub programs appropriately, marketing, and integrating them with college offerings for a seamless student experience.
- Create the IMP:Act Institute in CAHSS. The purpose of the IMP:Act Institute is to create a durable, visible, and flexible structure for innovative interdisciplinary majors and programs that are central to the college’s mission. The institute strengthens existing curricula, reduces barriers for launching new programs, and enables faculty hiring to be strategic, intentional, resource-minded, and future-oriented. The initial goal is to bring together the majors/minors that are offered by faculty appointed across the CAHSS under a new institute, enabling these important programs to share resources, processes, assessment practices, curricular effort, facilities, and student services. The Institute will also be poised to support academic collaborations between CAHSS programs and others across the university.
- One of the exciting aspects of having fewer colleges and schools with tighter integration among them is the expanded opportunity for hub programs and schools across all colleges. One key example is the Josef Korbel School of Global and Public Affairs, which is already well-poised to bridge across the Daniels College of Business, the Sturm College of Law, and the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences. Maintaining the strong reputation and value of the Korbel School is a priority of the University, and its strengths may be even better leveraged with explicit interconnections of faculty and programs within our large colleges.
Create an integrated performing arts unit in CAHSS that would include the Lamont School of Music, the Department of Theatre, and the Newman Center for Performing Arts. When the spaces where we teach and the spaces where we perform are artificially separated, both suffer. By bringing them together, we create the ability for each to strengthen the others. Students gain access to professional-grade venues and real production experience, bridging the gap between academic training and professional practice. Faculty can move fluidly between instruction and production, attracting and retaining higher-caliber colleagues. A unified identity also sends a powerful signal to prospective students that their training will happen in a professional context. Operational leadership, marketing, advancement, and administrative functions reduce overhead and create clearer accountability. Perhaps most importantly, a unified vision that connects education, artistic excellence, and community impact tells a compelling story to students, performers, donors, funders, and the broader Denver community about who we are and what we value.
New Global Languages and Cultures Unit. The three existing language departments in CAHSS will come together to create cohesion, integration, and innovative degree paths with the aim to become the premier academic destination for language and culture instruction and to be aligned with our university’s strong study abroad program.
New Communication and Media Arts Unit. The existing Department of Communication Studies and the Department of Media, Film and Journalism Studies will come together in a newly identified space to elevate these important fields of study and attract students. Their initial goals will include reviewing their academic programs to provide cutting-edge majors, minors, certificates, and masters degrees. This new structure will position DU to offer some of the fastest growing degrees and programs in the nation.
Evidence Reviewed to Support These Restructures
Below is a summary of the data reviewed to support the current restructuring plan. You can access these files, organized by category, here . Please note that there have only been minimal redactions, and these pertain only to sensitive and/or proprietary data, in an effort to promote maximum transparency. As with most complex institutional challenges, no single dataset provides a complete picture, and multiple interpretations and potential solutions are possible. The analysis therefore draws upon several sources and considers the collective trends, patterns, and constraints reflected across them.
Provost Commissioned Task Forces, Committee Reports, Proposals and Reviews
- Academic Program Review 2.0, Oct. 2025
- Joint NSM/Ritchie Taskforce report, Dec. 2024
- Merger MCE/GSSW/GSSP Taskforce reports, March 2026
- Goal 1, 2 and 3 committee recommendation reports and underlying data including individual subcommittee reports for Goal 3
- SWOT analysis conducted in winter of 2025 by members of all three Goal committees
- Academic Unit Review Committee reports for Religious Studies and Electrical and Computer Engineering, 2026
- Restructuring proposals provided by Dean Sahara Byrne, CAHSS; Dean Henrika McCoy, GSSW/interim MCE; Dean Torrey Wilson, GSPP; Dean Bobbie Kite, PSC
Community Input
- Provost Listening and Learning notes summary from sessions with each academic unit, students, staff and faculty governance and affinity groups
- Faculty Governance APT and Faculty Senate motion regarding college/department restructure process
Review of Available Data (DU & Published)
- Analysis of financial cost and savings opportunities resulting from restructuring
- Review of 44 recent articles about university restructuring, mergers, academic realignment, or college consolidation discussions organized broadly into five categories: (1) strategic frameworks, (2) merger/consolidation case studies, (3) organizational and governance lessons, (4) financial outcomes and risk, and (5) academic/cultural impacts
- A number of DU Forward proposals are reflected in these structures, and as we gather efficacy data from them we will continue to invest in additional initiatives that are successfully building into the future
- Recently successful or nearly successful congressionally-directed funding requests in quantum and the Mental Health Collaborative
Reports and Models of Enrollment and Hiring for 2030 and Beyond
- FY27 Budget along with three-to-five-year enrollment projections based on Nathan Grawe data for our region
- Benchmarking data from peer institutions (e.g. University of Miami, Northeastern University, Drexel University, Lehigh University, Tulane University, University of Rochester, Wake Forest University, Southern Methodist University) that are R1, private universities to help set target headcount ranges (e.g. faculty and student) per academic administrator, department, and college operating structures Benchmarking is more complex than straight headcount, but that data can generate exploratory guideposts
- Market potential and share via multiple external and internal data sources, including Academic Analytics to assess research connectivity and strength before and after potential structural changes; Lightcast and other labor-market tools to evaluate degree demand, job growth, and emerging skill requirements; and numerous federal (i.e., Bureau of Labor Statistics, etc.), international (such as the Future of Jobs Report (2025) and industry reports identifying high-growth sectors for future jobs and the near- and long-term impacts of AI on those sectors)
- State of Colorado workforce and industry sector vitality data and reports to place market potential into local or regional context
Input from Existing Accreditation Bodies & Consultants
- Higher Learning Commission (HLC) perspective/process on mergers or institutional realignment as it is often more important than ABET, AACSB, CAEP, CSWE, APA, or other specialized accreditors, since HLC evaluates the institution as a whole
- Program specific accreditation policies
- Ranking impact on institutions post-realignment (case study of ASU and other notable realignments)
- Solicited Education Advisory Board (EAB) Undergraduate Portfolio Health Check report and other EAB program opportunities.
Next Steps
In the coming months, we will invite you to participate in Operational Transformation, in support of Academic Transformation. While I anticipate that this level of academic transformation will not be required in the upcoming years, an ongoing culture of academic program review is vital to healthy programs and departments, and I am committed to supporting the data and processes needed to allow programs and departments to monitor their own progress and innovate as needed to remain vibrant and engaging for student learning and success. Relatedly, supporting R1 requires ongoing investments and a culture of excellence. I look forward to returning to supporting key R1 initiatives like seed funding and staff support for research, and I welcome your participation in increasing fair and thorough annual and tenure and promotion reviews of faculty research, scholarship, and creative work.
Conclusions
For those of you who have served on task forces, review committees, and provided your input across the past year, I hope you can see your efforts and contributions and those of your colleagues reflected in this framework. While this provides a bold and concrete framework for us to build from, you will notice the new colleges, units, hubs, and integrated clinic do not yet all have names, specific locations, or detailed structures, and the searches for new leaders will be rapid and internal. These decisions are intentional—to involve your participation in how they are shaped and to grow them from our strengths. Reducing costs was imperative but, as the example of so many of our peers provide, simply reducing costs is not an effective strategy for success in the future.
I believe this framework is responsive both to the limitations and frustrations felt here now and across the years, and to the opportunities and challenges in the national landscape. Like anything new, especially at this scope, we will encounter unanticipated barriers. I am committed to monitoring the implementation of these plans for effectiveness in key outcomes—including the degree to which these structures reduce costs, help stabilize enrollment, improve retention of our faculty and students, reduce silos, increase innovation, and provide meaningful engagement for and with our broader community. I have charged my direct reports with supporting and monitoring implementation and look forward to working with all of you to realize the potential of this academic transformation.
As always, thank you for all you do for DU. I am honored to serve as your provost as we work together to move DU toward an incredibly bright future.
Sincerely,
I believe this framework is responsive both to the limitations and frustrations felt here now and across the years, and to the opportunities and challenges in the national landscape. Like anything new, especially at this scope, we will encounter unanticipated barriers. I am committed to monitoring the implementation of these plans for effectiveness in key outcomes—including the degree to which these structures reduce costs, help stabilize enrollment, improve retention of our faculty and students, reduce silos, increase innovation, and provide meaningful engagement for and with our broader community. I have charged my direct reports with supporting and monitoring implementation and look forward to working with all of you to realize the potential of this academic transformation.
As always, thank you for all you do for DU. I am honored to serve as your provost as we work together to move DU toward an incredibly bright future.
Sincerely,
Elizabeth G. Loboa
Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor