Kansas State University is excited to celebrate ten years of students identifying and developing their top five CliftonStrengths at Spotlight on Strengths. Students, faculty and staff are invited to join the K-State Strengths team and Blue Key Senior Honorary on Tuesday, Oct. 11, from 4:30-6 p.m. in the K-State Student Union Forum Hall. The event will highlight stories of strength, hope, grit and resilience at K-State.
Special guest speakers include K-State First Lady Sally Linton, Del’Sha Roberts, well-being advisor for the Morrison Center for Student Well-Being, and Stacia Mendoza, K-State Student Ambassador and Blue Key President, and Karlyn Gustin, K-State Strengths Cat Community Freshman.
After the presentations, participants will break into small groups to share their own stories of strength, hope, grit and resilience. This event is co-sponsored by Blue Key Senior Honorary and the Strengths, engagement and well-being initiative.
Registration for Spotlight on Strengths is due by 11:59 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 9.
The K-State Strengths Initiative aims to help students move from Strengths identification to Strengths development. Students take the first step of identifying their Strengths through a free assessment offered by the University during their first year at K-State.
Beginning in fall 2021, K-State provided free Strengths access codes to all incoming students. K-State Strengths is funded through the Mistler Family Foundation. K-State alumnus Rich Mistler saw Strengths as an opportunity to help students reach their full potential and thrive.
After their assessment, students have the option to dive deeper into their strengths at a student peer coaching session. At their Strengths Peer Coaching session, students gain Strengths insight, aim their Strengths towards an existing challenge, and have intentional conversation around the six pillars of well-being (career, physical, emotional, spiritual, social, financial).
This year, we have 12 undergraduate Strengths Peer Coaches, who have been trained to take a coach-like stance to help students connect their Strengths to their passions and interests and further apply their Strengths in their time at K-State and beyond. Additionally, a Peer Coaching initiative launched at K-State Salina, with two students on the team.
Strengths Champions can be found across campus from the office of Career Services, to Housing and Dining, to the College of Health and Human Sciences. Strengths have been embedded into the cultural fabric of K-State as a tool to help students engage in their spheres of influence and thrive in well-being. Celebrating the past ten years provides our campus community with an opportunity to celebrate the individual and collective work of many who have invested in the strengths development of students. To date, more than 15,000 K-Staters have completed the strengths assessment, with more than 1,500 students completing the assessment in fall 2022.
K-State was recognized by Gallup in 2020 as a Don Clifton Strengths for Students Award recipient for being a university that is exceptional in helping students utilize their Strengths to achieve success in the classroom and beyond.
For more information about the strengths assessment, strengths peer coaching, or scheduling a strengths workshop, contact strengths@ksu.edu.
Mike Finnegan, Ph.D
Assistant Professor Director of K-State Strengths
Staley School of Leadership Studies
Emily Wollard
K-State Strengths Graduate Assistant
College Student Development
