August 6, 2026

Retreat Season

The next few weeks are what I call “Retreat Season.”

There are three upcoming “retreats”, although I don’t know if they are a “secluded place where one can rest and relax” (Oxford Languages Google Definition).

Retreat #1

The executive team will gather next Tuesday to review plans for our September 21 Convocation and for the 26-27 DIAs. As well, there is some annual policy review work to be completed and we’ll discuss the formation of an A.I. Task Force to begin this fall.

As a reminder, the executive team includes myself, plus:

• Dr. Ilder Betancourt-Lopez, Vice President of Student Learning
• Erin Blakeney, Vice President of Student Success
• Chari Davenport, Vice President of Inclusion, Advocacy, and Community
• Brittany Caldwell, Associate Vice President of Advancement
• Ifrah Mohamed, Associate Vice President of Human Resources
• Shawna Pitts, Associate Vid President of Administrative Services

Retreat #2

Also next week, the executive team will meet on Wednesday with Dr. Elizabeth Banning, Shannon Bath, and Becky Riopel to review our Strategic Plan and Accreditation work for 26-27.

Shannon is our Accreditation Liaison Officer (ALO) and Becky is the “second” ALO, meaning she will help Shannon with the overall efforts of the accreditation cycle. The accreditation cycle is 7 years and last year we wrote one of two major reports, our Year Six report. This year, we must write our Year Seven report. The Year Seven report covers our mission-related work as outlined in our Strategic Plan. Elizabeth helps us organize the data around these efforts, so the large group of us will review our strategic efforts to this point and begin preparation for Year Seven.

To complicate matters, our accreditation agency (NWCCU) just informed us that they will be changing to an 8-year cycle. We’re not sure yet if our Year Seven visit by them will actually occur next spring or will be postponed until a year later. Regardless, we will prepare the report as if we were still on the 7-year plan.

Retreat #3

The Board of Trustees will meet the following week (August 19) for their annual “retreat”. This is a planning meeting to prepare for the coming year. As well, we will review with them the work we completed in Retreat #2. The agenda will be posted next Wednesday if you’re interested. Note that no action is taken at this meeting and all topics are repeated formally at the September 16 meeting.

Prior to all of these retreats, I attended the Presidents’ Retreat last month of all the community college presidents. We learned more about the state budget, State Board Mission Metrics, and the upcoming “efficiency study” required by the Legislature. I’ll share details of that retreat at Convocation.

Shoutouts

A special thanks to the executive team who will take over the Friday Letter for the next 6 weeks. They will each report on highlights from their areas. Up next week…Chari Davenport.

Remember, shoutouts can be submitted to FLShoutout@cascadia.edu.