Institutional Effectiveness – In strategic planning for the new academic year, Richland’s Academic Council participated in the first of its two-day annual retreat on Aug. 2, led by Zarina Blankenbaker, Richland vice president for teaching and learning. The council reviewed Richland’s Thunion report and the strategic organizational actions in which it will be involved this year. The retreat’s first-day focus was leveraging strengths and identifying areas of improvement. The activities included identifying next steps in developing action plans from use of results, identifying roles in organizational action plans, studying academic program review, and analyzing student learning outcomes assessments.