West Liberty University students from the Gary E. West College of Business took first place honors at the annual conference held Nov. 9 – 10 by the State Council for the Society for Human Resource Management (WVSHRM) and held in Bridgeport, W.Va.
The $1,000 cash prize and official plaque were presented to winners Tessa Ullom and Macie Roy.
“This was our first participation and I couldn’t be more proud of Tessa and Macie,” said Dr. Vishakha Maskey, who is the faculty advisor for the student competitors and a resident of Wheeling.
Ullom is a sophomore management major from Wheeling and Roy is a junior majoring in marketing whose hometown is Kingwood, W.Va.
“I am so incredibly grateful to have been given the opportunity to compete in this competition! I am currently working in WLU’s Human Resources department and studying management, so it was amazing to have been able to apply all of the concepts and skills I’ve been learning over the past two years to a project like this,” said Ullom.
“We were elated when our names were announced at the awards ceremony. It was surreal to see all of our hard work pay off in such an incredible way. Most of all, this win has fueled our motivation to succeed, and we can’t wait to represent the College of Business again next year!” Ullom said.
“Tessa and I worked really hard on our project and went into the competition having no expectations. As mentioned, this was our first time competing in this competition, so we really didn’t know what it was going to be like or how good our competitors’ projects were. We were shocked to say the least when they called our name for first place. I’m really proud and we’ll definitely be back next year to compete again,” Roy stated.
The WVSHRM Classic Case Competition is hosted by the WVSHRM State Council during their Annual Conference. Teams analyze an HR business case study, prepare a solution, and then compete onsite in Bridgeport.
“This competition promotes meaningful student engagement within our degree program, to nurture collaborative educational opportunities between colleges and universities in our state and surrounding states, and to foster networking opportunities between students and HR professionals,” Maskey added.
Maskey is a professor of Management and Economics in the WLU’s College of Business.
Representing over 800 individual members, the West Virginia State Council for the Society for Human Resource Management (WV SHRM) is the state affiliate for the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). Founded in 1948, SHRM is the world’s largest association of human resource professionals.
