MHHRA Recognized For Collaboration with SUNY New Paltz students

NEW PALTZ — The School of Business at the State University of New York (SUNY) at New Paltz has recently recognized the Mid-Hudson Human Resources Association (MHHRA) for its outstanding support of the SHRM student chapter at SUNY New Paltz, the Management Association (MA). MHHRA will be permanently recognized on the "Investing in the School of Business" wall located in Van den Berg Hall at SUNY New Paltz for its contributions in 2007. MHHRA is being recognized for enriching and strengthening the business programs at SUNY New Paltz, in particular for supporting the MA. This wall serves as a way to gratefully acknowledge major contributors for their support of programs, capital improvements, and scholarship for the School of Business.

"MHHRA is proud to be associated with the Management Association. MA is a valuable resource for the students of SUNY New Paltz and they assist MHHRA tremendously throughout the year with projects such as our membership survey. The students are always eager to learn and often take internships at our member’s companies," says Amy Hagerty, President of MHHRA. In addition to internship opportunities, workshop presenters and company visit opportunities; MHHRA has offered generous support for the MA to participate at the annual Northeast Regional HR Games and the development of the HR Leader of Tomorrow SUNY New Paltz Scholarship.

HR Games

For the sixth consecutive year, MHHRA has offered a sponsorship for the MA to participate and attend the Northeast Regional HR Games and Student Conference. The sponsorship has been awarded by MHHRA to sponsor MA’s teams at the event being held on March 28-29, 2008 at Bryant University in Smithfield, Rhode Island. The HR Games is a game show tournament between students of various SHRM student chapters throughout the Northeast region. "Our participation in the HR Games is one of the highlights of our year," said Kristin Backhaus, Associate Professor of Management at SUNY New Paltz and Advisor of the Management Association, who coaches the teams each year. "Competing in the Games provides students with both HR knowledge and the experience of interscholastic competition. The Games are challenging and exciting, and we always have a great time."

The competition is a fun way to prepare students for Professional in Human Resources (PHR) certification. This academic competition tests students by using a Jeopardy style format to answer human resource questions. The questions for matches are complied into categories similar to those used in the PHR certification exam. Categories include subjects such as management practices, selection and recruitment, compensation and benefits, training and development, and employee/labor relations. "Thanks to MHHRA, our students have been able to participate with only minimal personal expense, which opens the door to students without regard to their ability to pay their own way. We will represent MA and MHHRA with pride at the Northeast Regional HR Games at Bryant University," added Backhaus.

Past student participants have enjoyed their experience of representing MHHRA and SUNY New Paltz and demonstrating their HR knowledge to practitioners and other students from colleges throughout the Northeast Region.

Scholarship

This year also marked the development and awarding of MHHRA’s first recipient of the HR Leader of Tomorrow Scholarship at SUNY New Paltz. Lauren Guido was the recipient and is pursuing her Masters of Business Administration (MBA) degree in Management at SUNY New Paltz. She currently is an executive board officer of the MA. This scholarship was established in 2006 by MHHRA to recognize and encourage SUNY New Paltz students who are interested in pursuing a career in the profession of human resource (HR) management.

"I am sincerely grateful and appreciative to be the recipient of this wonderful honor and valuable award that support students pursuing a career in the Human Resource Management field," said Guido. "I will work extremely hard to maintain the standards of this scholarship through academic performance, organization participation, and community service involvement."

Says Hagerty, "numerous times throughout the year, MHHRA has joint meetings with the student chapter. It is a wonderful environment where professionals and students learn from each other, ask questions and share experiences. MHHRA is proud to invest in the future of these students. The scholarship and donations are just a small token of our admiration for these hard working students."

MHHRA is the sponsoring professional SHRM chapter for the SUNY New Paltz Management Association. This affiliation provides SUNY New Paltz students with an opportunity to explore the field of human resources (HR) as a career and to learn more from HR professionals about the HR function in business. This forum enhances educational opportunities for students to gain ideas, information, and skills, as well as the opportunity to develop job contacts and participate in professional internships.

For more information about MHHRA and its affiliation with the MA, please visit its web site at http://midhudsonhr.shrm.org.