SOUTH BEND, IND. (July 31, 2006) – Understanding the unique combination of strengths students, faculty, staff and the community have will be the topic of Ivy Tech Community College’s community coffee and conversation scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 16, 8 to 9 a.m.  The event will be held at the South Bend campus, 220 Dean Johnson Blvd. and is free and open to the public.

The event will begin with an update on Ivy Tech-North Central and its campuses in South Bend, Elkhart and Warsaw.  Laurie Schreiner, Ph.D., a national expert on student success, will then speak about “Putting Strengths to Work at Ivy Tech.  Her presentation will address how working with people from their strengths rather than their weaknesses can influence all aspects of campus life, and how it benefits not only student learning and retention, but also campus climate and impact on the community.

Schreiner is professor and chair of Doctoral Studies in Education at Azusa Pacific University and scholar-in-residence of the Noel Academy for Strengths-Based Leadership and Education. The Noel Academy is affiliated with The Gallup Organization’s strengths development program for college students. She is co-author of the “Student Satisfaction Inventory,” which is used on more than 1,600 college and university campuses in the U.S. and Canada. She is also co-editor of the monograph “Visible Solutions for Invisible Students: Helping Sophomores Succeed”.

To reserve a place at the event, call Anne Arthus at (574) 289-7001, ext. 5706 or email aarthus@ivytech.edu.