Huskies crush competitors, capture first place in SHRM contest.

Three undergraduate women representing the UW Business School took first place in the Northwest Human Resource Management Association's (NHRMA) student conference and competition held last weekend in Ellensburg on the campus of Central Washington University.

Jessica Ribera, Michelle Rutherford and Alison Shkurhan, all seniors, outperformed peer teams from around the Northwest, and ousted defending champ Central Washington University, a frequent winner in this contest
The UW had a total of four teams competing, but after six rounds of this Jeopardy-style competition, the trio of UW women prevailed. They've won an all-expense paid trip to Las Vegas in June for the national convention of the Society for Human Resources Management, where they plan to network with HR professionals and learn more about the industry from seasoned experts.

"We knew we were a strong team and we were cautiously confident," Ribera said. "We studied and prepared for the competition by going over piles and piles of flashcards on topics related to human resources management like affirmative action and performance appraisals."

The purpose of the competition is to help students prepare for the Professional in Human Resources exam, similar to the CPA exam that accountants must pass. Mirrored after the television game show, Jeopardy!, students were peppered with questions in categories including ethics, records management and equal opportunity employment law. The team that amassed the most points—the UW—took top honors.

Jane George-Falvy, a lecturer in management and faculty advisor for the UW's student chapter of SHRM helped coach the students and said the victory over teams from Central, Portland State University and Western Washington University was well-deserved.

"To say that the defending champions were stunned by their defeat was an understatement," said George-Falvy.

Return to June 2007 BA Alumni News