1 | P a g e Report submitted by the Be Better Leadership Team. For questions or more information contact bebetter@uiowa.edu.

The Be Better initiative helps undergraduate students develop as students, leaders, citizens, and employees by

supporting personal pathways to leadership and success. Be Better directly supports the 2016-2021 University

of Iowa Strategic Plan, by providing a framework to connect students with high-impact practices on campus.

This is a summary of the 2016-2017 academic year, the first year of implementation.

Key Points:

In just one year:

We have achieved excellent completion rates with StrengthsFinder among first-year students (nearly

99%).

Students remember their Top 5 and most had discussed their strengths with someone else.

Students have had contact with strengths in the classroom, with friends, and through advising, among

other settings.

Nearly 300 faculty and staff members completed initial Strengths Training. Nearly 200 moved on to

level two.

Forty-five different departments have at least one person trained in strengths.

350 unique faculty/staff members have viewed resources in our Strengths Toolkit.

30 academic courses integrated strengths or student leadership competencies into the curriculum.

History of the Initiative

One of the guiding questions for the fall 2014 Student Success Team Retreat was, “How can we maintain and enhance the Iowa undergraduate experience?” During the retreat, an idea for the University of Iowa to be recognized as the Regents institution known for creating leaders was proposed. Since 2007, leadership development work had been happening at the University of Iowa in various pockets across campus, and committees had been formed to try to bring the various units providing leadership training and development together as a unified group. Vice President for Student Life Tom Rocklin, Associate Provost for Undergraduate Education Lon Moeller, and Assistant Vice President for Student Life Sarah Hansen charged an action committee with the following deliverable: to create a proposal focused on the feasibility of integrating leadership development into every undergraduate student’s experience.

From November 2014 to June 2015, the proposal was developed with the support of committees focusing on academic advising, career advising, coursework, co-curricular experiences, On Iowa!, new student orientation, and residence education. The Strengths and Leadership Integration Proposal, submitted July 2015, recommended using the Clifton StrengthsFinder assessment paired with Dr. Corey Seemiller’s student leadership competencies to support undergraduate student leadership development. A work group was charged with implementing the proposal for fall 2016. The following goals for the initiative (eventually titled Be Better at Iowa) were established:

2 | P a g e Report submitted by the Be Better Leadership Team. For questions or more information contact bebetter@uiowa.edu.

As a result of Be Better students will…

gain self-awareness through reflection on their learning

be better able to articulate what is learned from their classes, their major(s), and co-curricular experiences

practice transferring learning across contexts develop and improve the knowledge and skills employers are seeking from new and recent graduates

From September 2015 through August 2016, significant time and effort was put in preparing campus, via training and developmental tools, to aid new students in the use of the Clifton StrengthsFinder assessment as well as addressing the technological needs to administer and track the assessment.

Year One Implementation: 2016-2017

To support the implementation of Be Better the following committees, including faculty and staff members,

operated throughout the year:

Strengths Training Committee

Student Leadership Competencies Training Committee

Be Better Incentive Committee

Resource Toolkit Committee

Academic Consultant Committee

Over the past year, many of the goals and “possibilities” outlined in the Strengths and Leadership Integration

Proposal have been accomplished. Partnerships have been created with key stakeholders across campus as

well as with Gallup. Processes for delivering the StrengthsFinder assessment to students are now in place along

with multi-level strengths training and resources for faculty and staff. A variety of student organization leaders

and student employees now receive training on strengths to aid in their work with their peers. Departments

who wrote letters of support for the original proposal have shown significant progress integrating strengths

and student leadership competencies into their programs and services. The implementation team has

developed assessment mechanisms to show support for, and benefits of, the initiative. Data from the first year

are outlined below.

Student Outcomes

Incoming students begin Be Better by completing the Clifton StrengthsFinder assessment in the Success at

Iowa online course. 98.6% of students enrolled in Success at Iowa completed the StrengthsFinder assessment

in the 2016-2017 school year.

Semester # of Students Completed Fall 2016 6592

Spring 2017 388

During a student’s first year at Iowa, we expect them to meet the following goal as a result of participating in

Be Better: “Gain self-awareness and reflect on their learning.” This goal includes three outcomes:

3 | P a g e Report submitted by the Be Better Leadership Team. For questions or more information contact bebetter@uiowa.edu.

1. Students will be able to list their Top 5 Strengths.

o Two questions were added to the Excelling@Iowa transition survey to measure the outcomes

of Be Better. 3040 students responded to the survey in spring 2016. When asked to select their

Top 5 Strengths 2697 (89%) students were able to select their Top 5.

2. Students will be able to name one place they have had contact with faculty, staff, or peers about their

strengths.

o Over 1900 (63%) students reported that they discussed their strengths in at least one setting

during the fall semester.

Settings Students Discussed Strengths Number of Students Percentage (of 1936) Classroom 814 42%

Friend 798 41%

Advisor 687 35%

Peer 453 23%

Professor 430 22%

Student Org 306 16%

Other 210 11%

Staff 197 10%

Work 179 9%

*None and N/A were not included in the table.

3. Students will be able to describe one way they have used their strengths during the fall semester.

o Data on this outcome will be collected at the program level for 2017-2018.

Participation in High-Impact Experiences

For the purposes of the Be Better initiative, we have defined high-impact practices (HIPs) as:

Experiences that occur over time (at least 8 contact hours)

Experience includes an intentional and educational reflective component focused on strengths and/or

student leadership competencies.

Experience includes a feedback component (e.g., facilitator or instructor to student, student-to-

student, and professional to student).

Experience includes the opportunity for practical application.

In 2016-2017, the Be Better initiative highlighted 14 individual experiences that met these criteria and were

available opportunities for first-year students.

Semester Number of Students who participated in identified HIPs

Number of Students who participated in multiple identified HIPs

Number of First-Year Students in identified HIPs

Fall 2016 919 31 541

Spring 2017 723 14 120

4 | P a g e Report submitted by the Be Better Leadership Team. For questions or more information contact bebetter@uiowa.edu.

Unique # of Students who participated in identified HIPs

Unique # of Students who participated in multiple identified HIPs

Unique # of First-Year Students in identified HIPs

2016-2017 1603 83 653

Discovering My Strengths Award

First-year students who participated in one of the Be Better high-impact experiences were eligible to submit an

application for the inaugural Discovering My Strengths Award. The Discovering My Strengths Award recognizes

undergraduate students who have intentionally engaged in discovering and utilizing their Top 5 Strengths in

their first year at Iowa. The winners of the award were announced at the Hawkeye Leadership & Service

Awards celebration in May 2017.

Winners HIP Top 5 Strengths Bernardo Duarte The President’s Leadership Class,

Issues in College Residence Halls Class Strategic, Competition, Woo, Communication, Achiever

Jacob Gordon Career Leadership Academy Pt. 1 Restorative, Individualization, Woo, Communication, Adaptability

Vyjayanti Munagala Tippie Direct Admit Seminar, Career Leadership Academy Pt. 1

Communication, Woo, Activator, Includer, Relator

Milan Patel Hawkeye Guide Woo, Futuristic, Self-Assurance, Competition, Communication

Katherine Vittore Tippie Direct Admit Seminar Communication, Futuristic, Strategic, Maximizer, Woo

Be Better Forum

The Be Better Forum was held on March 21st, 2017 with a faculty/staff portion in the afternoon and a student

portion in the evening. 19 students responded to a post-assessment of the event of 102 students who

attended.

100% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that as a result of attending the Be Better Forum they

better understand how they can utilize their strengths in different settings.

Fourteen students were able to list one way they will take what they learned during the Forum and

apply it to their lives.

Based on student feedback the following changes will be made for the 2018 Be Better Forum:

o Based on comments about timing (both in terms of length and date), the committee will

consider a speaker/keynote format for the Forum versus conference style.

o The committee will introduce sessions on strengths in application in partnership with

Residence Education throughout the fall 2017 semester to reach more first-year students.

o Much of the Forum attendance came from select courses that offered incentives to attend and

participation of the 2017 Hawkeye Guides. Marketing for the 2018 Forum will focus on

encouraging groups like the Resident Assistants, CSIL Student Organization Leaders, On Iowa!

Leadership, etc. to attend.

Thirty-eight faculty and staff responded to a post-assessment of the event out of a total 85 attendees.

Additionally, thirty faculty or staff were presenters for the event.

5 | P a g e Report submitted by the Be Better Leadership Team. For questions or more information contact bebetter@uiowa.edu.

84% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that as a result of participating in the Be Better Forum

they had a better understanding of how they can integrate strengths into their work with students.

61% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that as a result of participating in the Be Better Forum

they had a better understanding of how they can integrate student leadership competencies into their

work with students.

Select offices and departments on campus were asked to participate in a poster session during the Be Better

Forum, to share ways they are utilizing strengths and student leadership competencies. Two examples are

highlighted below.

“Strengths are integrated into the Career Leadership Academy (CLA) curriculum through readings, assignments

and classroom discussions. One particular highlight is the Strengths-Based Team Workshop in LS:2002 (CLA Part

1). After completing the StrengthsFinder assessment, students are organized into groups based on their

Signature Themes, giving equal representation to each of the Four Domains of Leadership. Groups are

challenged with a number of team building activities and asked to reflect on how talents are displayed and

utilized. Groups continue to work together on a larger semester-long project; final evaluations ask students to

provide feedback on how their own Strengths – and those of their teammates – contributed to the experience.

In LS:3002 (CLA Part 2) Strengths are a considerable focus. Strengths are used as a key component of

development as students define and evaluate their personal leadership belief, style, and execution. Students

are involved in a student run service learning project in which strengths are used to guide team member role

choices. Students actively use strengths language and understanding in networking, team building and within

the job search process.”

“Each RA is asked to complete strengths as part of the RA Class that happens during the spring semester prior

to serving in the RA role. The new RAs were asked to complete the assessment prior to the first day of RA class.

The first topic of RA course is personal development, and the first class is dedicated completely to strengths and

having RAs spend time learning about their own five strengths as well as how their 5 Strengths would work

within a team. The remaining RA class lesson plans all connect back to strengths and ask RAs to reflect on how

their strengths will help them in the RA position. The capstone project, called the Community Action Plan, asks

them how they will use their strengths to build community on their floor as well as make a plan of how to

incorporate strengths on their floor since a majority of our residents are first-year students and will have taken

strengths.”

Faculty and Staff Training

As part of the roll out of the Be Better initiative, a committee was charged with providing strengths training for

the campus at large. Two levels of strengths training, an introduction (Training One) and a deeper look at

individual strengths (Training Two), were offered. Forty-five (45) different departments on campus have at

least one individual who has received Strengths Training One or Two.

Training: May 2016 – July 2017 # of Faculty/Staff Trained Strengths Training One 283

Strengths Training Two 194

6 | P a g e Report submitted by the Be Better Leadership Team. For questions or more information contact bebetter@uiowa.edu.

A post-training survey was sent to all participants of Training One and Training Two. Forty-one individuals

responded to this survey.

85% of respondents indicated that they were somewhat or very confident in talking about strengths

with others.

When asked to share examples of how they have used strengths training or knowledge, the top three

themes were advising (20%), with other professional staff members (20%), and in a class (20%).

Be Better Resource Toolkit The Be Better Resource Toolkit was created to help faculty and staff members integrate strengths and student

leadership competencies into their work. Materials in the toolkit include: one pagers on integrating Strengths

into various functional areas, presentations, activities, and handouts for students, research articles, etc.

Website analytics were gathered for January 1st - July 1st.

Toolkit Website

Total page views 447

Unique page views 350

Course Integration

Nineteen courses integrated strengths into curriculum in 2016-2017.

At the end the 2016-2017 academic year, 15 courses have mapped student leadership competencies

to course curricula.

As of 2016-2017, 30 courses have integrated strengths or student leadership competencies.

2017-2018 In August 2017, we will provide trainings and materials to support faculty and staff understanding and integration of student leadership competencies. The Be Better Implementation Team is working to identify and increase the number of high-impact activities that utilize strengths and student leadership competencies. Conversations continue to focus on infusing strengths and student leadership competencies into the university culture and general campus experience. Many of the original Strengths and Leadership Integration Proposal tactics have been brought to fruition. Nevertheless, work remains to achieve the overarching goal of becoming the university that creates leaders who leverage their strengths and leadership competencies to contribute to their communities now and in the future.

Goals The Be Better Implementation Team has several goals for the 2017–2018 academic year.

1. Update implementation team current structure and processes to align with current needs. Key areas of focus: roles, responsibilities, information management, resources.

2. Improve the sustainability of the Be Better initiative, including expanding the initiative’s onboarding process for faculty and staff, increasing incentives for UI professionals and students to participate, and analyzing the current make-up of stakeholders across campus.

7 | P a g e Report submitted by the Be Better Leadership Team. For questions or more information contact bebetter@uiowa.edu.

3. Expand the number of opportunities for outreach and engagement with Be Better constituents both on and off campus by increasing the number of student touchpoints, improving training for faculty and staff, and creating pathways for alumni, employers, and community partners to be involved.

More information about the implementation team’s goals and priorities for 2017-2018 is included in the strategic plan on the following pages.

2017-2018 Strategic Plan

Goal/Strategy/Action Step Timeline Point Person

1. Realign Be Better Leadership and Implementation Plans Teri

1.1 Update executive roles and responsibilities 10/1/2017

1.1.1. Draft roles. 9/1/2017

1.1.2. Executive group review and look for gaps. 9/15/2017

1.1.3. Share with implementation team, update based on feedback, and finalize. 10/1/2017

1.2 Refocus purpose and goals of workgroup committees 11/1/2017

1.2.1 Brainstorm with executive group and/or implementation team about committees. Potentially conduct a SWOT.

9/1/2017

1.2.2 Work with committee chairs to draft purpose, goals, deliverables and timelines.

10/1/2017

1.2.3 Work with committee chairs to draft chair description and committee member job description

10/1/2017

1.2.4 Share down to committee members, share feedback back up to executive group, and finalize.

11/1/2017

1.3 Improve resource and information management 11/1/2017

1.3.1 Create guidelines for OneDrive. 9/1/2017

1.3.2 Review overall structure and make necessary changes. 9/15/2017

1.3.3 Charge chairs with updating their folders. 10/1/2017

1.3.4 Executive group update remaining folders. 10/1/2017

2. Improve Sustainability of Initiative Matt

2.1 Expand Be Better onboarding process for new UI employees 1/1/2018

2.1.1 Review UI onboarding processes and identify ways to share Be Better information

10/1/2017

2.1.2 Create Be Better takeaways for tabling opportunities 11/1/2017

2.1.3 Create an orientation packet to share with stakeholder groups 12/1/2017

2.1.4 Create a short video to share with faculty/staff 12/1/2017

2.2 Increase incentives for Be Better users 3/1/2018

2.2.1 Identify current incentives and rewards 10/1/2017

2.2.2 Map incentives to levels of involvement and identify gaps 11/1/2017

2.2.3 Brainstorm additional incentives and reward processes 11/1/2017

2.3 Establish plans for committee member turnover 12/1/2017

2.3.1 Create document to keep track of all chairs and committee team members 9/1/2017

2.3.2 Chart expected end dates for committee chairs and team members 9/15/2017

2.3.3 Work with chairs to Identify potential "chair in waiting" for each committee 11/1/2017

8 | P a g e Report submitted by the Be Better Leadership Team. For questions or more information contact bebetter@uiowa.edu.

2.4 Maintain strategic relationships 10/1/2017

2.4.1 Review current list of relationships and identify needs/gaps (Conduct stake holder analysis)

9/1/2017

2.4.2 Create timeline for ongoing communications 9/15/2017

2.4.3 Document essential information for each relationship where needed 9/15/2017

3. Expand Outreach and Engagement Opportunities Paul

3.1 Increase student touchpoints 9/1/2017

3.1.1 Increase number of mapped opportunities 'that count.' 9/1/2017

3.1.2 Increase number of 'shared' opportunities that include strengths & student leadership competencies.

9/1/2017

3.1.3 Create touchpoint maps/pathways in Be Better communications (website, handouts, etc.)

12/1/2017

3.1.4 Determine feasibility and structure of a student ambassador program 6/1/2018

3.2 Improve faculty integration 6/1/2018

3.2.1 Solidify relationship with Office of Teaching, Learning, and Technology 10/1/2017

3.2.2 Identify additional faculty champions 10/1/2017

3.2.3 Increase number of mapped courses 6/1/2018

3.2.4 Increase number of disciplines with mapped courses 6/1/2018

3.2.5 Identify areas for increased training opportunities 10/1/2017

3.3 Improve staff integration 12/1/2017

3.3.1 Identify gaps in training for staff. 9/1/2017

3.3.2 Increase staff training/development/networking opportunities around Be Better @ Iowa.

9/1/2017

3.3.3 Using student "pathways" outline key areas and assign executive group member as liaison

12/1/2017

3.4 Create opportunities for alumni, employers, and Iowa City community members

3.4.1 Develop partnership with the UI Foundation / UI Alumni Association for outreach re: Leadership Development

10/1/2017

3.4.2 Coordinate with Pomerantz Career Center for employer relations outreach 11/1/2017

3.4.3 Coordinate with appropriate community partners in the Iowa City area for outreach

12/1/2017

3.5 Establish strategic marketing communications plan 11/1/2017 Teri

3.5.1 Finalize key messages document (mission, vision, etc.). 9/1/2017

3.5.2 Executive group review and update plan. 9/1/2017

3.5.3 Share plan with implementation group. 9/15/2017

3.5.4 Charge committees to create a communication plan for the coming year. 10/1/2017

3.5.5 Update website to reflect updated messaging. 10/1/2017