A look back at Elevating Cougs 2023

On October 19 & 20, nearly 800 WSU staff and faculty, as well as speakers from other universities and organizations, joined Modernization and HRS’ Learning & Organizational Development for the first-ever Elevating Cougs conference.

We’d like to thank the WSU community for making Elevating Cougs a success. By attending, presenting, or supporting planning efforts, you helped make this unique event possible.

Here’s a look back at this year’s conference:

By the numbers

The 2023 Elevating Cougs conference was the largest in-house employee development event in WSU history, with:

  • 790 participants across all tracks and sessions
  • 92 speakers
  • 80 sessions

Workday at Elevating Cougs

We’re grateful for your help making the Workday Success Stories track a success in itself. Here’s a look:

  • 55 participants, on average, per Workday session
  • 115 questions answered across all Workday sessions
  • Of the nearly 30 Workday sessions offered this year, these were your top 5:
    • Discussion Panel with Other Workday Schools
    • WSU Workday Reporting Evolution, Past and Future
    • Workday Finance FAQs
    • Calendar Planning for Regular Finance and HCM Events
    • Expense Report, Spend Authorization, & PCard

Leading & Developing as a Coug

Many attendees focused on developing their soft skills this year at Elevating Cougs. Here’s some highlights from the Leading & Developing as a Coug tracks:

  • 45 participants, on average, per session
  • Of the 50 sessions offered across both tracks, here were your favorites:
    • Top 5 Developing as a Coug sessions:
      • Pivot Tables as a Tool
      • Emotional Intelligence 101
      • Improving Work Life Balance
      • Wellness Check: Is Your Self-Care Sufficient
      • Getting out of Mental Ruts
    • Top 5 Leading as a Coug sessions:
      • The Emotionally Intelligent Leader
      • Managing Conflict
      • Clarifying Expectations
      • Leading with Curiosity
      • The Employment Cycle

In your own words

If you attended Elevating Cougs and would like to send us your feedback, please complete this anonymous survey. Here’s some of what we’ve heard so far from our participants:

“I have been impressed with the quality of this in-house conference. It has been helpful to me across tracks, but especially as it pertains to helping me use Workday more effectively. A big THANK YOU to everyone who helped put this together.”

“This was a terrific conference with extremely useful information!”

“Well thought out, run on time, packed full of useful information.”

Your input and suggestions help us know what worked, as well as what we can do to make next year’s event even better.

Looking ahead

Did you have a session you’d like to review, or wish to view a session you were unable to attend live? Session recordings may now be accessed in the event lobby. We’ll also notify attendees when recordings and resources are available in Percipio.

Do you have a question about a presentation? Submit your Workday questions here, or reach out to HRS Learning & Organizational Development with questions about Developing & Leading as a Coug topics.

Elevating Cougs will return in 2024. Until then, we’d like to extend our appreciation to those who supported this year’s conference. To each attendee, presenter, and organizer: Thank you!