Strengths at the U: Creating a Strengths-Based Undergraduate Experience

Abstract

Presented at the Minnesota College Professionals Association, this discussion focuses on the assessment of the StrengthsQuest initiatives at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. Since fall 2011, the University of Minnesota Twin-Cities has offered over 10,000 incoming first-year students the Clifton StrengthsFinder inventory within a larger framework of the StrengthsQuest higher education program. This workshop highlights a collaborative campus-wide approach to building students’ strengths, with a focus on providing insights, strategies, and recommendations to practitioners seeking to implement strengths-based activities with students, integrate a strengths-based philosophy on campus, and build a firm foundation for assessment.