SUNY New Paltz SHRM Student Chapter Participates at 2010 HR Games

This March, the SUNY New Paltz student chapter of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), the Management Association (MA), competed at the 2010 Northeast Regional Student Conference and HR Games held by SHRM at Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania. SUNY New Paltz sent two teams of students, which were sponsored by the Mid-Hudson Human Resources Association (MHHRA).

The undergraduate student participants included Alexandra Curiale, Sridevi Dudhnath, Terry Grandis, Yanna Guo, Lakenya Moore, and Evan Umansky. Kristin Backhaus, Associate Professor of Management at SUNY New Paltz and Advisor of the SUNY New Paltz Management Association, coached the teams. The teams performed very well against other student chapters from Houghton College, Canisius College, SUNY Oswego, Penn State, and Rider University. The students worked hard to prepare and did well at this challenging competition, particularly considering that the competition was early in the semester.

The HR Games is a game show tournament between students of various SHRM chapters throughout the Northeast Region. 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 acronyms, selection and recruitment, compensation and benefits, training and development, labor relations, and job analysis and design. During each round of play, students from each team select point values and a question category. The question is read twice and students have fifteen seconds to supply the correct answer in a Jeopardy style format.

The HR Games is good experience for students to supplement their classroom education to learn HR knowledge and participate in interscholastic competition. “The HR Games are a challenging test of management knowledge. The games cover a dauntingly broad domain of information,” said Backhaus. “The benefits of participating in the HR Games include students learning key HR terms and concepts, becoming conversant in HR terminology, and the opportunity to compete against other skilled teams in a high-pressure setting. It shows future employers that they have initiative and that they are knowledgeable in the subject matter areas of HR,” stated Backhaus.

For the eighth consecutive year, the Mid-Hudson Human Resources Association (MHHRA) offered a sponsorship for the MA student chapter to participate and attend the event. MHHRA is the sponsoring SHRM professional chapter of the SUNY New Paltz Management Association.

Each year, the student participants enjoy their experience of representing MHHRA and SUNY New Paltz and demonstrating their knowledge of human resources to practitioners and other students from colleges throughout the Northeast Region. The event also enabled students to attend SHRM’s Northeast Regional Student Conference where students had the opportunity to network, attend educational sessions in the field of human resources, as well as take advantage of career guidance and mentoring opportunities.

Excited about this year’s experience at the HR Games, the SUNY New Paltz Management Association is already thinking of ways to prepare for next year’s competition. For more information about the SUNY New Paltz Management Association please visit http://www.newpaltz.edu/schoolofbusiness/ and http://midhudsonhr.shrm.org/.