This semester, Tiffin University President Dr. Lillian Schumacher and Head Football Coach Brett Ekkens co-facilitated DiSC® assessment training for TU students in DEC400 (Dragon Education Core) courses. Dr. Schumacher traditionally leads this training each academic year, with one session in the fall and another in the spring. This marks the first time the session is co-led by both the university’s president and head football coach.
DiSC® is a behavioral self-assessment tool that categorizes individuals into four primary behavioral traits – Dominance (D), Influence (i), Steadiness (S) and Conscientiousness (C) – to understand how they interact with others, make decisions and communicate, often used in workplace settings to improve leadership, teamwork and communication effectiveness. It is based on the theory of psychologist William Moulton Marston.
“I have had the privilege of facilitating a seminar entitled ‘Using DiSC® to Understand Self and Others’ to our DEC400 students over the last several years,” said Dr. Schumacher. “These are our senior students getting ready to graduate from Tiffin University. It is one of the highlights of my fall and spring semesters as I get to spend time with our exceptional students! This time I had the absolute pleasure of co-facilitating with our head football coach, Brett Ekkens. A natural leader himself, he is not only an exceptional coach, but also a phenomenal teacher. We had a lot of fun!”
“I was thrilled to co-facilitate the DiSC® seminar with President Schumacher for our DEC400 class,” said Brett Ekkens, Head Football Coach at Tiffin University. “Our belief in the impact DiSC® can have on leadership, emotional intelligence and group synergy has been a connection point since my time arriving at Tiffin University. It was an honor to work with President Schumacher and our DEC400 students as they acquired information and skills that will make a lifelong impact.”
Mandi Hummel, Assistant Professor of Education, regularly facilitates the course. “Part of the DEC400 curriculum includes exposure to career readiness competencies,” said Hummel. “One goal is to equip our students with the tools and resources to increase their abilities to work effectively in team settings. The DiSC® Assessment allows students to understand their work styles and preferences, ultimately making them more self-aware, which can lead to a growth mindset. Each semester, students are challenged and inspired to seek to understand differences and to value one another for effective collaboration through the DiSC® assessment and workshop. Preparing the future workforce with tangible tools to contribute effectively as new talent is a privilege!”
Maya Burggraf, a student in the DEC400 course reflected on her experience stating, “The DiSC® workshop was a great experience to dive deep into career characteristics, strengths and weaknesses and how to connect with different personality types. Overall, this interactive and involved session gave me the toolkit to make me the best version of myself.”