Fogelman College student group receives SHRM Merit Award

For release:  June 8, 2017

The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) has awarded a 2016-2017 Merit Award designation to the University of Memphis' SHRM Student Chapter for providing superior growth and development opportunities to its student chapter members. They were one of 149 winners out of the 327 student chapters from across the United States.

The SHRM student chapter merit award program, which began in 1972, was created to encourage student chapters to require ongoing excellence in the following areas: student chapter requirements, chapter operations, chapter programming and professional development of members, support of the human resource profession, and SHRM engagement.

"These chapters truly represent the future of the HR profession," said Susan Post, SHRM-SCP, East Divisional director at SHRM and the lead for SHRM's Student Programs. "Their achievements go above and beyond their everyday academic and work commitments and we applaud the positive impact their efforts have on their schools, their local communities and beyond."

The University of Memphis' SHRM Student Chapter exemplifies the qualities necessary to attain the Merit Award. The team won first place in the 2017 Central Division Case Competition in Houston, TX this past March, earning them a place at the SHRM annual conference in New Orleans, LA this month. The student chapter also engages with the Memphis SHRM professional chapter, and this engagement provided the opportunity for student members to work as volunteers at the SHRM Tennessee State Conference during the past academic year. The members are active in the community, participating in two service projects for FCBE Adopt-a-school, Kingsbury Elementary.

The SHRM Student Chapter receives extensive employer engagement from local companies including AutoZone, ServiceMaster, and The City of Memphis to name a few. These companies provide valuable Human Resource internship and employment opportunities to chapter members.

"The Department of Management in the Fogelman College is incredibly proud of our SHRM student chapter's accomplishments. Their 2016-2017 SHRM Merit Award is very deserving," said Dr. Chuck Pierce, chair of the Department of Management. "Congratulations SHRM student chapter members!"