Organizations all over campus are finding new ways to stay connected while staying 6 feet apart and in groups less than 10. Society for Human Resource Management hopes to stay busy this year by offering their club to many more majors at Simpson.

The club had its first meeting on Sept. 15 via Zoom. At that meeting, SHRM elected co-presidents, vice president, secretary/social media coordinator, and treasurer.

Of the elected board members, there are three seniors and two first-years.

Brynna Bowman is a co-president and active member of the organization. She emphasized how important it is to be active at your college and what benefits there are for joining the group.

She asked professors to take a few minutes to express the importance of getting involved on campus, “especially in times of COVID-19.”

Becoming involved on campus is helpful from a networking and experiential standpoint, but especially helpful in meeting new people—something that has become difficult during COVID-19. 

“In my email to the professors, I wanted to include getting involved on campus. As someone who is big about networking and building your networks as wide as possible, I think it is so important to be involved on campus,” Bowman said. “Within clubs, groups, teams, and more students can meet so many people and learn about many opportunities. During times of COVID-19, it seems as if it is even harder to meet new people. Joining organizations on campus can also help with that.” 

SHRM hosts many events for students involved and other students on campus. Some events that they plan on having this year are networking events for business students, resume and interview workshop with a panel of employers to give the best feedback.

They hope to have speakers who will discuss their journeys and give advice to students looking forward to their life after college.

Many, if not all, of these events, will be hosted via Zoom, at least for this fall semester.

Many of the opportunities that SHRM offers to their members are harder to come by, especially while battling the constant adjustment COVID throws at college students.

“We think opening our group can allow for students to meet new mentors to help them in their job search for the future,” Bowman said in an email to probable members.

A first-year member, Hailey Schutte, said she chose to run for SHRM secretary/social media coordinator because she wanted to be more involved in the club.

“I also am the type of person that wants to include everyone in anything and everything that they would like to be included. By managing the SHRM social media accounts, I feel as if I will be able to better reach out to people who would like to be a part of the club and get them involved,” Schutte said.

Schutte also mentioned she had never run a social media account for anyone but herself, but is excited for the opportunity to run the SHRM accounts.

The Society for Human Resource Management hopes that what they provide this fall can help students gain the necessary resources for finding internships and job hunting after graduation.