Showing posts with label students. Show all posts
On Tuesday, September 10, a lively chat was held regarding the relationship between SHRM professional chapters and volunteers, and student programs. Nearly 129,000 impressions were made, and nearly 36,000 accounts were reached according to Tweetreach.com.
Here are the questions and answers that took place:
Q1 - What are the benefits of working with a SHRM student chapter?
The participants found a number of reasons to engage with student chapters:
- Students were going to be their future peers; the professional chapter's future depended on them
- Student chapters provide quality access to interns, as well as served as a source to fill future vacancies
- To break down generational barriers
- To fill a programming niche at the professional chapter, as students choose and present a topic of interest to professionals
Q2 - What are you, your professional chapter or State Council doing to support your SHRM student chapter?
- Providing free professional chapter membership to students
- Mentoring
- Providing for discounted, or free, registration at chapter meetings, or the state conference
- Providing speakers
- Job shadowing opportunities
- Offering the opportunity to tour a company's plant or workplace
- Financial support - $500 if the chapter earns a Superior Merit Award, $250 if they earn a merit award
- State Council offers $100 to each student chapter that submits a merit award
Q3 - What are the biggest challenges you face in working with a SHRM student chapter?
- The schedule often made planning difficult with the academic calendar running from August-May, which the professional chapter goes from January to December.
- Student turnover made building relationships difficult
- Students often lacking the time to connect or showing interest in the professional chapter
- Make working with student chapters a bigger part of SHAPE
- Address current chapter bylaws to create a student member category
- Examine new ways for chapters to communicate with students
- Be clearer with professional chapters about the challenges inherent in working with student chapters
Q5 - Based on tonight’s discussion, what is one thing you will do to help your student chapter this year?
- Create a Student Core Leadership Area representative for the chapter
- Create a membership category for students
- Be more aggressive in connecting with the student chapter(s) in the area
- Expand opportunities for students at the state level
- Encourage greater volunteering among professionals with the student chapter
- Utilize Tara Fournier, SHRM's Manager of Member Engagement, as a resource
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The calendar is turning toward May, which means as a professor, the academic year is drawing to an end. As a SHRM Student Chapter Advisor of 15+ years, it means state and regional student HR conference have passed, the merit award application is frantically being completed for submission (due today!), and I am bidding a sad farewell to the latest graduates who are off to greener pastures.
It also means an opportunity to look review what worked, and what didn't work as a SHRM Advisor - what is the state of SHRM College Relations? We are in the unique position of having a new leader hired at SHRM - Tara Fournier, PHR. After an exhaustive 7 month search, Tara was hired to be the Manager of Member Engagement, who will focus not only on College Relations, but the Young Professionals network. She had a trial by fire, so to speak, as within the first few weeks she was already traveling the country to attend the various regional student HR conferences
To assist in her transition in the role, here is one chapter advisor's unsolicited wish list I'd like to see Tara pursue during her first full year in the position:
1. Rehaul the Merit Award - While the merit award for student chapters moved from a point system to a check system several years ago to mirror what professional chapters do, it has become outdated and activities are not evenly rated. For example, to earn a single checkmark, section 4.1 suggests chapters:
Conduct a research survey or special project for SHRM professional chapters, government or educational institutions, or local community organizations. Include an explanation of the project's purpose, scope, procedure and results, as well as the number of chapter members involved. A minimum of three student members must participate for credit. Research required for academic courses cannot be counter, and it must be a chapter project, not an individual or class project.To carry such an endeavor out could take weeks or months, yet it counts the same as displaying a SHRM banner at all official chapter functions (section 2.16) or listing chapter leaders and their contact information on a chapter website (section 2.12). Similarly, publishing a student chapter resume book, and distributing it to the professional chapter (section 3.7) seems antiquated in the age of LinkedIn.
2. Revamp the HR Case Competition - Two years ago, after some pilot testing in the Pacific West, SHRM decided to eliminate the popular HR Games competition to a Case Competition, to better reflect real world HR students would be experiencing after graduation. Unfortunately, for the first since 2000, I did not bring a team to compete, as I found the implementation extremely problematic and flawed. This year's competition only affirmed my beliefs. Here is what I suggest should be changed:
Eliminate Graduate School students competing against Undergraduate students. In the competition, both graduate students and undergraduates receive the same case, but graduate students are given "tougher" questions and then scores are compared to determined the two finalists. SHRM can spin that these tougher questions thus level the playing field, but I remain unconvinced. On what version of real world HR is one candidate interviewed with one set of questions and another candidate interviewed with a different set of questions, and then the two candidates are compared? On what version of real world HR would we offer an easier work sample test to a candidate with less education, and a tougher work sample test to a candidate with more education, and then compare scores? Its comparing apples and oranges, and would be considered invalid.
Further, just because graduate school teams have not won every region (Graduate school students have won the North Central region each year, and have had comprised three of the four finalists) does not provide causation that the differential works; rather a stronger case could be made that it reflects poorly on those graduate schools who competed and didn't win. In 2011, you had an team of undergraduates competing against a team of graduates. Watching them compete, you could definitely see a skill differential, but how much of it was simply due to that graduate differential and not the answers provided? Its easy for contrast error to occur marring the results.
Even if you feel the process is fair, it creates a perception of unfairness among the participants. I have never been more disheartened at a HR competition than this year when I overheard two students (from another school) watching two graduate student teams compete saying "how are we supposed to compete with that?" This is not the way to build the future HR professionals of tomorrow, and continuing in this vein is sheer folly. I know I will never bring another team to compete as long as this practice continues.
UPDATE (5/2/2012): SHRM just published the standings from the HR Case Competitions held in each region. You can find them posted here and clicking on each region for the results. Four regions had teams comprised of graduate teams (the Pacific West region did not have a graduate school team compete). Of the four, three regions were won by graduate school teams. Fairness remains a problem.
Improve the transparency. While I was pleased to see that rubrics were provided to competing schools, there is still too much secrecy involved in the process. First, competition scores should be listed prior to the championship round. While I have complete faith and confidence in the individuals running the system, scoring errors could be made. It happened several times during the HRGames and were corrected. Having the scores available ensures that the top two teams are competing. Second, make the case available to all after the last team begins preparations. Without knowing the details of the case, it is hard to judge the quality of the responses a team provides. I know that several observers in the audience thought that the runner-up team in the North Central region provided a better presentation than the winning team. Having access to the case would give greater credence to the final results. Third, I understand that you are using one case across five regions and, thus, case security is critical, but since the North Central Region is not competing against the Pacific West, having a unique case would eliminate this problem.
Improve the team interaction. One of the key factors that made the HRGames enjoyable was the interaction of teams from other schools. They talk prior to the match, share the common experience together, and engaged in spirited sportsmanship after. With 4-5 rounds, teams get to meet a multitude of people from other institutions. Unfortunately, that opportunity is diminished in the new format. While there are common meals, the four hour prep time means interaction is minimized. Students check in, sit in a room working on their case, and have limited interaction with other schools. The solution? Send out the case a week in advance. Students can spend the time away from the conference working on their presentation and prepping their answer. Teams would have to sign a statement indicating that they worked on the case without outside interference. Then, when they arrive, they can make their 15 minute presentation, and then fully immerse themselves in other aspects of the conference.
3. Regroup the College Relations Committee - Prior to 2003, a College Relations Committee (CRC) comprised of several academicians and interested HR professionals provided input and guidance to SHRM on a whole host of student HR-related issues (the student session at the HR conference, the PHR exam, the student chapter toolkit, internships, etc.). However, in 2003, SHRM made a shift from committees to special expertise panels, the CRC was dissolved, and SHRM has relied on the State College Relations Directors (many of whom are not on the front lines working with students on a day-to-day basis) and other ad hoc committees to provide that guidance. At the time of its dissolution, there were less than 10,000 student SHRM members. Today, the number of students members now exceeds 15,000, while the role of Director of Member Engagement now is not only handling Student Programs, but the Young Professionals Initiative as well. Given the increasing demand on the role, there is no better opportunity than now to reform the committee to help support you in your new role.
Congrats on the new position, Tara, and I look forward to working with you in the years to come
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The first of the four and a half day SHRM 2011 Annual Conference is in the books.
Most of the day was spent with the Student Conference. The consistent theme running through out the day was generational differences. From Aaron Kesher's opening session to Joshua's Fredenburg's keynote address to the social media session to close the day, generational differences were on everyone's mind.
Highlights include:
*The social media session moderated by SHRM's Social Media Guru, Curtis Midkiff, featuring panelists John Nykolaiszyn, Robin Schooling, Matt Charney, and Laurie Ruettimann, certainly delivered the goods. They focused on how to network, the importance of a MBA, how to develop a backbone in HR, how you get into HR, and a few HR horror stories were thrown in for good measure. More importantly, the students were engaged and drew a lot of good knowledge from the panel.
*Continued support of student programs and the future HR leaders of tomorrow. An excellent colleague, Dr. Jeff Walls, was selected as the 2011 Advisor of the Year. He is a shining example of the great work advisors do to help students pursue careers in HR, and is a sterling choice to be recognized. Similarly, there were nearly 300 students, advisors, and guests attending today's conference, and it is wonderful to see strong passion for human resources at a young age.
*The volunteers. Kudos to the nearly 700 volunteers who assisted everyone today as they helped register, hand out bags, and direct people to the proper location. Without their assistance, the conference would fall into chaos.
*The networking. Its great to catch up with people in real life who you may only chat with on Twitter and Facebook. Over dinner at Fiamma, the conversation was strong as we talked HR and other matters, reflected on who unfortunately could not attend, and laughed. Special, special thanks to Matt Charney and Monster.com for supporting the dinner.
On to day two.
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The use of social media sites, such as Twitter and Facebook, in the classroom is growing, as is student time spent on exploring such sites. However, little research has been done to examine the impact on grades. Does actively participating in social media (Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, blogs, YouTube, etc.) impact one's academic performance? Is social media usage impacted by the ownership of smart phones?
This fall, a colleague, two students, and I attempted to answer these questions. An online questionnaire asking students about social media, and its usage, was sent by e-mail to all students (approximately 2,100) at a small, liberal arts college.
The following hypotheses were posed:
Hypothesis 1a: Students with smart phones are more likely to be involved with social networking than students without smart phones.
Hypothesis 1b: Students with smart phones will spend a longer amount of time on social networking than students without smart phones
Hypothesis 2: Social media use will differ based on class standing.
Hypothesis 3: Social Science majors will utilize social media more than Natural Science or Humanities and Fine Arts majors
Hypothesis 4: A negative relationship exists between social media use and grade point average.
What did we find?
Of the approximately 2,100 surveys sent, 430 were received (20.47%). The primary respondents were freshman (42.5%) followed by sophomores (21.6%), seniors (19.8%) and juniors (14.8%). Gender was queried, but more than two-thirds (69.6%) chose not to answer. A significant majority (83.4%) had a grade point average (GPA) above 3.00, with 45.1% self-reporting a GPA above 3.50, 38.3% with a GPA between 3.00 and 3.50, 13.3% between 2.50 and 3.00, 2.7% between 2.00 and 2.5, and 0.5% below 2.00.
31.7% of students were able to access at least one networking site on their phone, with 98.5% able to access Facebook, 72.7% able to access YouTube, 58.3% able to access Twitter, 49.2% able to access MySpace, 45.5% able to access blogs, and 34.8% able to access LinkedIn.
Of the 430 respondents, 97% use one or more of the following social networking sites: Twitter, YouTube, blogs, Facebook, LinkedIn, or MySpace. The largest percentage of respondents used Facebook (95.4%), followed by YouTube (90.7%), reading blogs (27.6%), Twitter (17.6%), LinkedIn (7.2%) and MySpace (3.9%). Given the small sample size for MySpace, we chose not to include it in our analysis.
The time spent on the social networking sites echoed the order listed above, with 78.3 % indicating they spent the most time on Facebook, followed by YouTube (58.4% ranked it 2nd), reading blogs (41.7% ranked it third), Twitter (26.3 % ranked it fourth), and LinkedIn (43.0 % ranked it last).
How much time do students spent on social networking sites? Students, for the most part, spend less than 15 minutes a day on most social media sites. However, Facebook is the exception. A significant majority of students (77.2%) spend more than 30 minutes a day on Facebook.
FINDINGS
There was general support for hypotheses 1a and 1b. Students who have smart phones were more likely to both access social media tools and spend time engaging with others. From an educational standpoint, this means there may very well be a “digital divide” between those who are making connections with others, and those who might be left behind. Similarly, professors may have to be wary of assigning projects involving social media to students as some may have an advantage in completing the work than others.
There was partial support for hypothesis 2. Juniors and seniors were more likely to use Twitter and LinkedIn, and read blogs, then their younger colleagues. However, other than Facebook, there was no significant difference in the amount of time spent accessing these sites. As expected tools such as Twitter and LinkedIn have more relevance to older students as they try to connect with others in their job search or find work. Similarly, perhaps younger students use Facebook longer as they are building their social connections, whereas older students already have a well-established network of friends and colleagues.
There was also minor support for hypothesis 3. Social science majors were more likely to use LinkedIn and spend more time on Facebook. However, it was the Humanities and Fine Arts majors who were more likely to use Twitter and read blogs. Perhaps the difference lies in the emphasis placed on the written word, and Tweeting and reading blogs has more appeal to this group.
Finally, there was little support for hypothesis 4. GPA did not play a role in the use of any of the major social networking tools, and minutes spent on several of the sites did not differ. The major difference lay in time spent with Facebook, which did show a negative relationship between time spent on the social network and one’s grades. As noted in table 1, while most students spent 15 minutes or less accessing that particular tool, Facebook was the only social networking site where a majority of students spent more than 30 minutes of their time accessing. Students and teachers should be concerned about its impact on learning.
