SHRM SDSU Had a Great Virtual Spring Semester

SHRM SDSU Had a Great Virtual Spring Semester
By Anna Freeman, SHRM SDSU President

SHRM SDSU had a great virtual Spring semester and ended strong with many professional development and social events for students. We had our bi-annual Kick-Off Event on February 9^th where we shared valuable information to current and prospective members about the benefits of being involved in SHRM SDSU. We had our Executive-in-Residence, Andy Esparza, share the benefits of joining our chapter and inspire members. Many SHRM SDSU alumni were able to join us virtually and share testimonials of their experience and how SHRM helped them to launch their careers. 

For our first SHRM Speaker Series Event held on February 23^rd, we invited Dr. Bob Nelson, a multi-million copy bestselling author of numerous books. He shared great tips for managing virtual employees and how students can, likewise, be good virtual employees. All attendees for this virtual event received a copy of the book, The Virtual Manager.       

We welcomed David Ramirez from Western Digital for our second SHRM Speaker Series Event, on March 9^th, where he discussed the growing interest in HR People Analytics. Students learned about the importance of using data, and the importance of collecting and using the right data. He provided a helpful step-by-step example of the process he uses to answer HR questions using analytics.

On March 23^rd, at the last SHRM Speaker Series Event, the co-founder of The People Collective, Guissu Baier, spoke on the topic of How to Build a Company Culture, Even During a Pandemic. She explained to students the importance of communication, both in-person and virtually among other outstanding strategic insights on how to build better relationships and promote a healthy and happy workplace. 

SHRM SDSU’s last and largest event of the year was the 7^th Annual HR Speed Mentoring Event which occurred virtually this year on April 13^th, where we were lucky to have 29 different mentors available to help our members. We had four, 15-minute sessions where students were able to speak with mentors of their choosing, asking them questions on professional development to prepare them for their HR careers. We wanted to thank all the mentors who made this event a success! We also want to congratulate our 2021 SHRM SDSU Natasha Sandrock Arthur Outstanding Service Award Recipient, Stan Sewitch. Stan hosted an HR event with the WD-40 Company Global HR team and a group of our HR students in Spring 2019 that was enjoyed by all in attendance. SHRM SDSU thanks all of our outstanding alumni who continue to support the chapter by staying engaged after graduation and offering their advice to members.

We also want to recognize our members who received Business Achievement Awards on April 21^st from the Fowler College of Business Council. We were ecstatic that SHRM SDSU’s College of Business Council Representative, Alek Casillas, received the Outstanding Council of Business Council Representative Award. We were also overjoyed that our Executive-in-Residence, Andy Esparza, received the Business Achievement Award for Outstanding Alumni.

As our Spring semester has come to an end, I am happy to announce the new SHRM SDSU executive officers for the coming semester; Luis Rodriguez (President), Grace Coulter (Vice President), Danielle Lopez (Secretary), Jordan Reyes (Treasurer). Additionally, the new director level officers consist of; Ariel Jasmine Sabas (Co-Marketing and Media Director), Calista Dao (Co-Marketing and Media Director), Samantha Peters (College of Business Council Representative), Brooke Vu (Information Systems Director), Serena Santoro (Alumni Relations Director), Jenna Green (Development Director), C’yana Boone-Nelson (Member Relations Director), Vaishnavi Sridhar (Events Coordinator), Ayah Bayasi (Historian), Lauren Engelking (San Diego SHRM Liaison), and John De Gula (San Diego HR Forum Liaison). Best wishes to our incoming Fall 2021 officers!

We had a great ending to the virtual Spring semester, and we are excited to be back in person this coming Fall. We have already started planning lots of great events. As we continue to plan for our Fall semester, we are always looking for guest speakers to come and speak to our chapter. If you are interested in speaking to our chapter, please reach out to us at shrmsdsu.president@gmail.com. 

As my time with SDSU and SHRM SDSU has come to an end, I would like to thank San Diego SHRM for the support they have provided, not only me, but for our entire chapter. I have had a great time during the board meetings and look forward to continuing to stay engaged with both SHRM SDSU and SD SHRM.