Southeast Student Elizabeth Swann on Top-Ranked Team at SHRM Conference

2012 Apr 3

Elizabeth Swann of Ease Prairie, Mo., participated in a five-member team of Southeast Missouri State University students who were honored as the top ranking undergraduate team and took second place overall at the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) Southwest Central Regional Student Conference March 30-31 in Lakewood, Colo.

SHRM is the world's largest association for human resource management, with more than 250,000 members in 140 countries. Southeast's student chapter, the HR Redhawks, have repeatedly earned the Superior Merit Award, SHRM's highest honor for its student organizations.

Southeast's case competition team was one of 14 that competed at the conference.

Other students on the Southeast team were Nakia Billups of St. Louis, Mo., Christina Bouapha of St. Louis, Elizabeth Grass of Perryville, Mo., and Janel Koenig of Perryville.

The team received a $2,000 scholarship for its second place finish.

Southeast's team advisor, Dr. Heather McMillan, Southeast assistant professor of management, said, "I am just so proud of this team, I can't find the words to express it."

The SHRM Case Competition was a one-day event in which teams competed with oral and written presentations. The case focused on human resource issues, from management practices to safety and security. Each team in the competition received a copy of the case at check-in and had up to four hours to prepare both the written and oral presentations and to respond to the questions in the case. Judges rated the presentation based on the team's ability to analyze the information presented in the case and to communicate a course of action. The two top teams advanced to the final round. The teams then presented again and the ultimate winner was determined by the final presentation. Southeast's Bachelor of Business Administration in management with a concentration in human resources is the only public university program in Missouri that has been acknowledged by SHRM as aligning with its curriculum standards for undergraduate students in human resources.