The Society for Human Resource Management recently awarded a 2019-20 Superior Merit Award designation to Fresno State’s student chapter for providing superior growth and development opportunities to its student members.
The Society for Human Resource Management student chapter merit award program encourages the development of more effective student chapters and distinguishes outstanding activities and projects. Chapters are recognized based on operations, programming and professional development of members, support of the human resource profession and engagement.
Fresno State had 36 active chapter members in the spring and two advisers. The chapter completed many activities to maintain recognition with the national society and to receive the Superior Merit Award. One of those activities was to participate in the 2019 CalSHRM Student Summit and Case Competition in which it placed second overall. Fresno State’s chapter aims to maintain excellence and create a positive learning environment for human resource students and enhance organizational skills as future human resource professionals.
“To prepare for the competition we met weekly with [Fresno State assistant professor Zhanna Bagdasarov],” said Tahiry Pimentel, Fresno State’s chapter president. “She provided us with practice cases and, as a team, we would come up with HR-related strategic solutions for problems identified in the case. The competition allowed us to apply the knowledge we learned in our courses to real-life HR problems that companies had experienced.”
The society’s mission is to create better workplaces where employers and employees thrive together. With 300,000-plus HR and business executive members in 165 countries, the society impacts the lives of more than 115 million workers and families globally.
“Today’s members of our student chapters are the HR leaders of tomorrow. They are the movers and shakers of the future, and we cannot understate the vital role they play in [the society’s] success,” said Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., president and CEO of the Society for Human Resource Management. “The Fresno State student chapter is evidence that the future of HR is, indeed, in good hands. I applaud their accomplishments and ability to fiercely move forward during a time of such change and uncertainty in the workplace.”
