Management Association Receives Superior Merit Award

Management Association Receives Superior Merit Award By Shaun Hoff

The SUNY New Paltz student chapter of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), Management Association (MA), recently was awarded the 2004-2005 Superior Merit Award. This national award recognizes achievement in the four broad areas of professional chapter operations, professional development of members, support of the human resource profession, and partnership with SHRM. Winning a Merit Award places SUNY New Paltz in the top 23 percent of all student chapters nationwide and was awarded to only sixteen chapters in the Northeast region.

“Management Association’s performance was outstanding again this year. There was a diversity of programs that appealed to many different students,” said chapter advisor and Assistant Professor of Management, Dr. Kristin Backhaus. “The officers worked hard to bring quality programs to the School of Business, and also worked on community service projects that benefited underprivileged children in our local area and internationally. I was very proud of the group’s performance.”

Of the 430 active SHRM student chapters nationwide, 133 submitted Merit Award applications to be evaluated by the SHRM College Relations Committee and Student Programs Staff. 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 2,355 points. “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,” remarked Dr. Hadi Salavitabar, Dean of the School of Business.

Being recognized as a Superior Merit Award student chapter is an annual strategic objective for MA. Each fall, Merit Award applications are mailed to chapter advisors and all active student chapters are eligible to apply. Applications are completed in the spring by chapters documenting and listing all chapter activities in the appropriate categories and assigning each activity a point value. All chapters that accumulate the required points are awarded either a Merit or a Superior Merit Award plaque.

MA organizes many educational activities for students each year including the annual Student Development Day. This conference was recognized by the campus wide Student Association as the 2004-2005 “Program of the Year” for its outstanding contribution to SUNY New Paltz. Other opportunities MA offers students include its affiliation with the Mid-Hudson Human Resource Association (MHHRA), educational workshops led by professionals, company visits, the annual HR Games competition, and internships.

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.”

For the third consecutive year, Management Association has attained national recognition as a SHRM Superior Merit Award chapter. For more information about MA please visit its web site at http://www.newpaltz.edu/management.