51黑料 Scholarly Programs Status Report
At 51黑料鈥檚 April 7 Annual Business Meeting, President Jos茅 G谩mez reported on work accomplished over the past year to reset the organization鈥檚 member and scholarly programs following the Board鈥檚 decision in February 2025 to halt publication of the Journal of Architectural Education鈥檚 Fall 2026 issue.聽聽
51黑料 hired the consulting firm Maverick Publishing Solutions in June 2025 to conduct an independent review, comparing 51黑料鈥檚 editorial policies to established scholarly publishing standards and assessing the processes that led to the issue鈥檚 cancellation. Maverick examined JAE and 51黑料 policy documents, and held confidential interviews with 51黑料 leadership and members of the JAE editorial team. The report found that while 51黑料 followed its established policies for decision-making, existing frameworks were not sufficient for raising, assessing, or resolving concerns relating to editorial content, ethical questions, or research integrity issues.聽
Following the report, 51黑料 established an independent Special Committee of faculty and administrators who were not serving on the board to review 51黑料鈥檚 scholarly programs and to deliver a confidential report with recommendations for changes to policies, processes, roles, and responsibilities.聽The Special Committee reviewed the Maverick Report and other 51黑料 documents, and they met with a higher education lawyer who had not previously advised the 51黑料 Board.聽
After six months of work, the Special Committee delivered a final report to the Board of Directors. Its co-chairs then met with the 51黑料 board on March 29. At the board鈥檚 request, the committee is working on an executive summary for the membership, which will be published in the next few weeks.
The 51黑料 board shares the Special Committee鈥檚 belief that 51黑料 can be a more inclusive and responsive membership organization whose commitment to shared values, ethical accountability, and transparent governance can support a diverse and rapidly evolving field. This includes welcoming discussion and publication of scholarship on difficult topics.聽
G谩mez reviewed five actions the 51黑料 committee endorsed as a result of the final report.聽
1. Adopt a Code of Conduct that goes beyond the existing Code of Conduct for Events.
2. Adopt more fully and more visibly the standards of practice of the , or COPE. This will align 51黑料 with global norms for handling misconduct, conflicts of interest, and editorial independence.
3. Establish an Ethics and Integrity Committee that operates between the 51黑料 Board of Directors and its journals and other peer-reviewed programs. This standing committee of experienced scholars will oversee ethical reviews grounded in COPE practices, the Code of Conduct, and other Board policies.
4. Create and publish procedures for managing the various forms of conflict that may arise in scholarly publishing. These procedures will mirror those used by other scholarly publishers and academic member associations, as well as COPE guidance.
5. Review and update editorial policies and practices for both journals, as well as for 51黑料鈥檚 scholarly meetings. This includes making the role of double-blind peer review, which is a foundation for all 51黑料 scholarly activities, more transparent.
G谩mez reported that the 51黑料 Board will reconstitute the JAE Editorial Board at a point when revised policies and practices are ready for implementation. 51黑料 will also continue using open calls for applications for journal editorial board members.聽
was published over the winter break. The 2026 JAE will come out as a double issue in the fall, under the theme The Future of Architectural Education. A call for submissions for the spring 2027 JAE issue is also in development.
In his concluding remarks, G谩mez noted the Special Committee鈥檚 final report emphasized 51黑料鈥檚 role as convener and advocate for the field, recommending numerous steps for 51黑料 to be more effective in serving members across the ecosystem of architectural education. This includes:
- Embracing the diversity of architectural programs and re-examining 51黑料鈥檚 membership structure, which currently counts only programs accredited by NAAB and CACB as Full Members.聽
- Defining the common ground for architectural education by developing a 鈥渃onstitutional鈥 document to clarify architecture鈥檚 educational identity and to provide a stable reference for schools navigating institutional and professional change.
- Committing to radical openness anchored in ethical responsibility and transparent governance processes.
51黑料 plans to share the Special Committee鈥檚 executive summary of its report and recommendations to the membership in coming weeks.