SHRM Student Chapter at SUNY New Paltz Receives National Superior Merit Award

June 2, 2004 SysAdmin

By Shaun Hoff

For the second consecutive year, the State University of New York at New Paltz s student chapter of the Society for Resource Management (SHRM), Management Association (MA), has been awarded the 2003-2004 Superior Merit Award.

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 chapter advisor and Assistant Professor of Management, Dr. Kristin Backhaus. 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, Backhaus added.

Of the 430 active SHRM 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. Management Association earned a grand total of 2,550 points, which is 77% of the maximum total points chapters can receive. SUNY New Paltz is also one of the sixteen chapters in the Northeast region to attain Superior Merit Award status.

Hadi Salavitabar, Dean of the School of Business, stated 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.

The SHRM 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.

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, MA 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 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 recognition of our Management Association’s activities demonstrates the outstanding qualifications of our students and the great leadership of its faculty advisor.

MA 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. Members have the opportunity to apply knowledge learned from their course work, obtain executive board positions, build their resumes, and display their own leadership by coordinating with fellow students in the attainment of goals.

For the second year in a row, Management Association has attained national recognition as a SHRM Superior Merit Award chapter after only being chartered as a SHRM student chapter two and a half years ago. For more information about MA please visit its web site at http://www.newpaltz.edu/management.