Contact: Maridith Geuder
After leading in the Southeast last spring, a three-member Mississippi State team now holds a top prize in national student competition patterned after the television quiz show "Jeopardy."
Truman W. Abbe of Vicksburg, Amber D. Crausby of Pontotoc and Sutton Holcomb of Clarksdale took second place in the recent Philadelphia, Pa., challenge for students planning careers in human resources management. All senior management majors in the College of Business and Industry, they were pitted against teams from Cornell, North Carolina State, and Utah State universities, among others.
In addition, their campus chapter of the Society for Human Resource Management was among 10 recognized for setting and achieving the highest group goals. In all, more than 125 chapters were honored with either top 10, superior, merit, or honorable mention honors.
To reach the national event, each of the final six teams first won their regional competitions. MSU advanced by beating 16 other schools in Oklahoma, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, and Texas.
Coordinated by the SHRM's national office in Alexandria, Va., the annual student challenge involves questions based on those found in the Professional in Human Resources Examination, said MSU chapter adviser Matthew J. Stollak.
"These were some of the best prepared teams I've ever seen in the national competition," the assistant professor of management added.
The competition--and the professional exam on which it is based--measure skills in such areas as workforce planning, compensation and benefits, and employee and labor relations.
Stollack said that, beyond covering the basic coursework in human resources, MSU team members prepared through twice-weekly study sessions focusing on H.R. definitions, laws and practices. Two weeks prior to the national event, they began meeting daily, he added.
"MSU advanced in the opening round by defeating Cornell," Stollack said. After beating Utah State in the next round, the group from Starkville moved to the championship round, where once again they were pitted against Cornell.
"In a hard-fought competition, Cornell ultimately prevailed," Stollak said. Still, as runners up, the MSU trio each received $500, a medal and travel expenses to the national conference.
There also was another important benefit. While at the convention, Abbe, Crausby and Holcomb all took and passed the professional PHR exam that certified their knowledge of the human resources field.