Best Practices: Texas A&M University

The focus for strengths at the University of Texas A&M-Commerce is "Live Your Strengths -- Lead the Change". In the belief that you need at least five novel interactions to begin the journey from awareness to development, A&M Commerce is focusing on creating environments where our student leaders literally are leading the change on campus with their strengths.

At A&M Commerce, we believe that in teaching the few to reach the many, our student leaders will use their strengths to create a "new campus" while serving others. We view our student employees in the student center, recreation center, residential living and learning, enrollment management, athletes, and elected leaders as leaders who are role models and servant leaders. They are instrumental in influencing social arrangements and use of physical space on campus. To this end, we actively seek to engage students in conversations, meetings, and events, always looking for creative ways to use and share their strengths.

Gallup intern Lauren Booe is leading a project in conjunction with the Student Leadership Office to reach 80% of the active organizations with initial awareness and five interventions throughout the year. In working with general campus organizations, we will be working to reach students that have not had the opportunity to learn about their strengths in an academic setting. We use a strengths-based challenge course with organizations, putting a new twist to an effective method of developing leaders. This initiative will help us reach transfer students, upperclassmen, and graduate students who are active in leadership roles at our university.

This year, we will focus on storytelling, game shows, "strengths as art," and adventure programming as vehicles to move people on their strengths journey. This will augment the efforts of our first-year experience faculty, who can plug their students into these opportunities for growth.

To lead the change, we know that planting the seeds of hope, building trust, exhibiting compassion, and providing a stable learning environment is essential to our student's success. "Living your strengths" is a choice. It is intentional. We encourage our students to "Lead the Change!"