April 18, 2002
Contact: James Nimnicht (509-963-2455/fax 509-963-2975/e-mail: nimnicht@cwu.edu)
ELLENSBURG, Wash. - Three Central Washington University students earned a free trip to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) national collegiate championship by winning the Area V title April 12-13.
CWU’s winning team of Karla Huseby, an international management major from Ellensburg; Chris Brese, human resource management, Kent; and Jennifer Bean, human resource management, Everett, now competes in Philadelphia June 23 against five other teams. CWU emerged as Area V champs from a 14-team field representing Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Alaska. Area V teams participated in a “Jeopardy-style” human resource event in Bellingham. Nationals will feature a similar format with a professional game-show host and lighted matrix display board for questions and categories.
James Nimnicht, CWU professor of management and SHRM student advisor, said a sample Area V question was: “What Supreme Court case ruled that although a test has an adverse impact against a protected group, the test is legal if it is job-related?” (Washington vs. Davis, 1976).
Nimnicht said Central has long been recognized as having one of the leading human resource programs in the Northwest.
“Demonstrating the ability to win in head-to-head competition against Boise State University, Portland State University, the University of Washington, Western Washington University and several other universities is particularly rewarding,” he added. “We are very pleased to be able to demonstrate the quality of our students to prospective employers.”
The national competition, featuring CWU, Cornell University, Utah State University, Mississippi State University, Eastern Michigan University and one more to be determined, will also be impressive.
