Clifton Strengths Institute Summer Conference

Breakout Session 1
 

Welcome to the Team! An Innovative Approach to Onboarding and Training New Employees

• Megan Christensen | Heritage Room

  • Effective onboarding and training are essential for creating positive employee experiences, fostering engagement, and supporting professional growth. This session highlights how the UNL College of Business Advising and Student Engagement Office structures onboarding and training new employees using tools like OneNote and Outlook, while sharing practical strategies and training plan formats. Participants will explore key components of effective onboarding and discuss ways to better meet the needs of new employees and their organizations.

     

Living Our Strengths: Practical Ways to Engage Students and Staff

• Lucas Novotny, Matt Nelson, Abby Groth, & Dan Steiner | Swanson Auditorium

  • This session explores how we are weaving CliftonStrengths into the everyday student experience through simple, intentional practices from door placards to monthly team activities. We’ll share tangible ways we engage students and staff in strengths-based conversations that build connection, confidence, and belonging. Participants will experience one of these activities and leave with ideas they can immediately implement on their own campuses.

     

Introduction to Strengths

• Kendra Ritchie & Kody Maguire | Regency Suite

   

Breakout Session 2
 

Leading with Strengths: Women Breaking Barriers with Gallup Insights 

• Lindsay Thompson | Swanson Auditorium

  • This dynamic panel brings together women leaders who actively apply their top Gallup Strengths to lead people, drive projects, and advance meaningful business outcomes. Through real-world stories and candid insights, panelists will share how leaning into their strengths has helped them navigate challenges, break barriers, and elevate those around them. Attendees will leave with practical strategies to harness their own strengths for greater impact and leadership effectiveness.

     

Strengths Under Pressure: Helping Students Navigate Comparison, Setbacks, and Self-Doubt

• Tasha Everman & Lori Miller | Regency Suite

  • Students often know their strengths and yet still struggle when faced with comparison, competitive environments, academic setbacks, or rejection. In high-pressure moments, it is not unusual for high performing students to experience imposter syndrome, self-doubt, or identity disruption. Strengths do not disappear during these moments, but they can become defensive, overextended, or misdirected. Using student scenarios this session will help you explore how we can recognize strengths under stress and respond in ways that help students regulate self-doubt and rebuild confidence across diverse institutional contexts. Leave this session with practical takeaways for reframing. 

     

Introduction to Strengths Coaching

• Chloe Carlson | Heritage Room

  • If you’ve ever experienced strengths coaching, you understand the impact of a meaningful one-on-one session. In this breakout, we’ll explore what makes strengths coaching truly transformational. You’ll learn the core structure of an effective coaching session, along with practical strategies for preparation and execution to create powerful, memorable experiences for others.

     

Breakout Session 3
 

The Dean’s Pack: Practical Strategies for Student Recognition and Relationship Building

• TJ McDowell | Swanson Auditorium

  • T.J. will share how he used a pilot project, the Dean’s Pack, to recognize and celebrate students during the Spring 2026 semester. This session will explore practical strategies for using strengths, social media, and intentional recognition to build relationships, create connection, and foster belonging among students. T.J. will also share reflections from his own educational journey and the power strengths can have to alter the trajectory of student’s lives.

     

Where and How are you Using CliftonStrengths in your Institution?

• Ann Koopmann | Regency Suite

  • Community College, Regional Campus and Private Institution Colleagues are invited to an interactive dialogue with shared ideas and approaches to incorporating Clifton Strengths on our campuses.  The facilitor will provide a framework for using Clifton Strengths in various institutions and time to share ideas and strategies as we discuss strength-based opportunities.

     

CSI Student Panel: Strengths in the Student Experience

• Dylan Anderson | Heritage Room

  • What does it actually look like for students to apply their strengths in college, leadership, and future career goals? In this interactive panel session, current student leaders from the Clifton Strengths Institute at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln will share personal experiences using CliftonStrengths in academics, student organizations, internships, relationships and campus involvement. Attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions and hear authentic student perspectives on growth, confidence and strengths-based leadership.

     

Breakout Session 4
 

From Insights to Impact: Research, AI, and Scalable Practice in Higher Education

• Jim Collison & Liz Kuncl | Swanson Auditorium

  • Join us for a forward-looking session on advancing CliftonStrengths in higher education. We will highlight the latest Gallup research on student outcomes, show how to better leverage Gallup Access, and introduce simple, effective ways to use AI prompting to enhance coaching and student learning. The session will end with guided collaboration time to map clear, actionable strategies for integrating and scaling Strengths across your campus.

     

Own Your Story: Turning Your Top 5 into a Career Navigation Tool

• Kadina Koonce | Heritage Room

  • Whether you’re job searching, mentoring, networking, or considering what’s next, your CliftonStrengths can provide a clearer framework for how you want to show up professionally. In this interactive session, you’ll learn how to evaluate opportunities through a strength’s lens, prepare authentic interview responses, and ask more meaningful questions during networking and hiring conversations. By the end, you’ll leave with reflection tools, conversation strategies, and a clearer understanding of how to craft a strengths-based story you (or your mentees) can carry into any professional setting.

     

E.A.S.E. Into Your Excellence: A Framework for Motivation, Confidence, and Strengths-Based Momentum

• Kaitlin Ferris | Regency Suite

  • Motivation isn't magic. Confidence isn't luck. And momentum? It's buildable. In this session, we'll explore the E.A.S.E. framework as a roadmap for showing up fully: your Areas of Excellence (what you bring), your Alerts for stress (what slows you down), your Systems and Support (what holds you up), and your End Goal (what you're building toward). Whether you're just finding your footing or ready to take up more space, this session will give you the tools and the permission to step fully into the light.