How to Increase Campus Engagement Using Strengths -- S11E26

·32 min·3 clips

Gen Z students are 30 times more likely to be engaged when schools commit to their strengths.

Jim Collison, Gallup's CliftonStrengths Community Manager, hosts Janet Gibbon, Associate Director of Strategic Partnerships at Gallup. Gibbon's top five strengths are Strategic, Achiever, Woo, Arranger, and Maximizer. She discusses her role in customizing solutions for higher education clients, focusing on engagement, culture, and strengths. Gibbon emphasizes that strengths must be woven into the campus fabric seamlessly, not forced. She highlights West Virginia University's 'week of purpose' with strengths workshops on topics like burnout and study skills. Gibbon explains that strengths provide a common vocabulary for freshmen, breaking down communication hierarchies between faculty and staff. Research shows Gen Z students are 30 times more likely to be engaged when teachers care and schools commit to strengths. Ownership of strengths initiatives must start at the top with senior leadership buy-in. Gibbon recommends integrating strengths into existing programs by identifying campus needs and diversifying champions. She uses an Oreo cookie analogy: strengths identification is the top and bottom, with development as the middle 'double stuff'. Visual cues like keychains, buttons, and mascots with top fives help reinforce strengths culture. Gallup Access now offers revamped CliftonStrengths for Students reports and digital resources. Strengths fairs and student ambassadors, as at Furman University, facilitate peer-to-peer conversations. Scalability depends on getting fundamentals right, with faculty and staff development as the foundation. West Virginia University scaled strengths to over 10,000 faculty, staff, and students in a year, creating a custom parent book for first-generation families. Gibbon notes that faculty and staff who know their strengths are six times more likely to be engaged, reducing burnout. She advises against forcing buy-in, allowing organic adoption through FOMO. The episode concludes with resources for listeners, including Gallup.com and [email protected].

As heard by us

A grounded case for keeping student strengths visible from freshman year through the next transition.

Campus engagement is framed as a continuity challenge: strengths introduced in freshman year need to remain visible as students move toward work or further education.

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Why you'd press play

If your campus strengths plan already covers the beginning and the end, this episode nudges you toward the Double Stuf middle.

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