WHITEWATER – For nearly a quarter of a century, the University of Whitewater chapter of the Society of Human Resource Management has received the prestigious Superior Merit Award.
The UW-Whitewater chapter was formed in the 1980s by former professor Dale Scharinger and has won the Superior Merit Award 24 consecutive years.
The 2007-08 Superior Merit Award for Human Resource Management received 112 entries. These entries came from among 400 active student chapters and of these, 67 Superior Merit Awards were awarded.
The award recognizes the chapter’s hard work and determination to advance the program and the education of students.
“There are many activities that we do that can count for the merit award,” Jon Werner, associate professor of human resources, said. “Some are fairly basic, such as holding meetings, bringing in professional speakers, distributing a newsletter. Some are more ambitious, such as our hosting the HR Games this past February, where students from across Wisconsin came here on a Friday and Saturday, and heard special speakers, and many participated in a Jeopardy-style competition that helps students prepare to take the Professional in Human Resources (PHR) exam.”
The Superior Merit award is a coveted award that recognizes chapters nationally. Receiving the award is no easy feat.
“Achieving this Superior Merit Award is something about which I, as well as all of the faculty in the management department, are very proud,” Werner said. “It speaks so strongly about the caliber of our students, and their very strong work ethic and commitment to the success of our student organizations. We had an excellent executive board this year, led by Jamie Seefeldt.”
Allysa Ellie, UW-Whitewater’s SHRM national secretary, has many plans in the works for next year’s SHRM chapter to continue their successful program.
“We have good succession planning to help our incoming executive board know what to do in order for us to achieve the award again next year,” Ellie said.
For more information on the Superior Merit Award or the SHRM chapter contact Werner at Wernerj@uww.edu or 262-472-2007.
