The UT Dallas chapter of the Society for Human Resource Management has about 30 active members, and membership is open to any UT Dallas student.
Formed last fall, the UT Dallas chapter of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM UTD) is committed to hosting professional and social events, and helping develop HR course planning in the business administration bachelor’s degree program.
The society, which is based in the Naveen Jindal School of Management, has about 30 active members, and membership is open to any UT Dallas student. It is a chapter of the Society for Human Resource Management, an international HR association that offers regional student conferences and helps students pursue HR certification exams.
During a spring 2013 gathering, students talked about their goals and passion for business administration’s organizational behavior and human resources concentration. Realizing there wasn’t a student organization dedicated to human resources, Jindal School student Nathan Cory began working to create one last summer.
“All SHRM UTD students are also members of DallasHR, which gives them opportunities to be involved in Dallas’ professional HR community,” said Cory, the UT Dallas chapter's president. “I want HR professionals to see UT Dallas as the prime market for talent.”
Dr. Vance Johnson Lewis
A popular early event was the SHRM Night with the Stars. Members of the organization attended a Dallas Stars hockey game with SHRM chapters from the University of North Texas and Texas Woman’s University. Through DallasHR luncheons, student members have had the opportunity to connect with more than 100 HR professionals. The organization also has brought in specialists to present HR workshops.
SHRM UTD also has influenced content in a course planned by Dr. Vance Johnson Lewis, director of the undergraduate program in business administration and SHRM UTD advisor. Rather than following a traditional textbook, Lewis designed his Advanced Organizational Behavior and Leadership course around aspects that students said were not covered in other courses, including the chance to do original research.
“I teach them the basics of conducting original research experiments and am allowing them to explore their world in the way they want to explore it,” Lewis said. “Since they all have different views and interests, why try to force them into one mold?”
Since fall 2012, when Lewis joined UT Dallas, enrollment in the organizational behavior and human resources concentration has grown from 16 students to more than 100.