Student chapter of Society for Resource Management receives second National Superior Merit Award in 2 years

By Shaun Hoff ('02, MBA student)

For the second consecutive year, the SUNY New Paltz student chapter of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), Management Association (MA), has been awarded the Superior Merit Award.

Winning a Superior Merit Award places New Paltz in the top 22 percent of all active student chapters nationwide, which is an impressive accomplishment to potential employers, said chapter adviser and assistant professor of management, Kristin Backhaus.

"I am very proud of the students accomplishments this year. Last year was very strong, but this year the quality of programs and activities was even better," said Backhaus.

The group's mission is to provide undergraduate and graduate students of various majors the forum to explore the field of human resources as a profession and learn more about the HR function in business.

Of the 430 active student chapters nationwide, 124 submitted Merit Award applications. To earn the Superior Merit Award distinction, chapters must receive at least 1,901 points out of a possible 3,300. New Paltz earned a grand total of 2,550 points, which is 77 percent of the maximum total points chapters can receive. SUNY New Paltz is also one of the 16 chapters in the Northeast region to attain Superior Merit Award status.

Hadi Salavitabar, dean of the School of Business, said that this award is "a clear indication of the efforts of our very dedicated MA board in providing a significant number of educational programs that can easily compete with well established and large chapters from other schools across the nation."

Examples of activities the SHRM student chapter at SUNY New Paltz organizes for the benefit of the campus community include the annual Student Development Day professional development conference, Business Symposium career panel and numerous educational presentations led by business professionals. In addition, the group participated in company visits, the HR Games competition, and developed a chapter resume book that was distributed to prospective employers. Student members also conducted research projects for the community and took part in several community service activities as well.

Salavitabar believes that the Student Management Association has "provided our students with a large number of outstanding educational programs, an invaluable outside of the classroom educational environment, and very effective leadership opportunities."

The student chapter merit award program, in existence since 1972, recognizes chapters with outstanding activities and programs that contribute to the professional development of student members and demonstrate notable professional chapter operations. In addition, this award acknowledges chapters that support the profession of human resources and have an excellent partnership with SHRM.

For more information about MA please visit www.newpaltz.edu/management.

JUNE 21, 2004
Volume 2, Issue 12

Feature Stories

What's New

Bulletin Board

Submit Items