UW-Platteville students attend SHRM annual conference

University of Wisconsin-Platteville business students enrolled as part of a special topics summer course attended the 2024 Society for Human Resource Managementannual conference and expo. The experience is used as an elective for HR and management majors and includes an SHRM membership for one year.

Dr. Caryn Stanley, who teaches the course and traveled with the students, said that the course is beneficial to students, because it allows them to network while experiencing pieces of HR and management that they cannot necessarily be exposed to in the classroom. They also get to travel and learn with people from all over the world.

"I was able to network in a way that cannot be taught in the classroom. In a classroom, you would never be in a situation where almost everyone around you is experienced in the field you're going into and willing to tell you anything and everything about it," said Mattie Isaac, a human resource management major from Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, who was one of seven students who attended. "I would highly recommend this class to anyone thinking about attending in the future."

The conference, which focused on the state of HR, from the role of AI and HR to how HR professionals can create more civil workplaces, took place June 21-26 at McCormick Place Convention Center in Chicago, Illinois, and brought together more than 26,000 human resource professionals, executives, students and others.

"I was able to learn from some of the top HR leaders in the world. Being able to understand the upcoming trends in my field of work is crucial as I navigate my post-graduation job search," said Mallory Combs, a human resource management major from Beloit, Wisconsin, who attended. "[This course] is a unique way to learn that and is incomparable to any current courses offered in the classroom. Being able to travel to a large city and network with professionals across the world, while earning college credits, is an opportunity I would recommend not passing up."