Liberty business students win first place at Human Resource Games

Three students from Liberty University’s School of Business won first place in the 2009 Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) Virginia State Human Resource Games held on Saturday, March 28 at the Liberty University School of Law.

The LU Blue Team, with Jonathan Mills, Louis Lolli (captain) and Jordan McLaughlin, was also awarded the “Collegiality Award” for professionalism and good sportsmanship. Peers and HRM business professionals from around the state of Virginia voted on this award.

Liberty is now preparing to take three teams to the 2009 Southeast Regional SHRM Human Resource Games held at VCU in Richmond April 17-18. The first place winner of this event will win a free trip to the 61st Annual National SHRM Conference & Exposition in New Orleans, La., this summer and will be showcased at the opening ceremony.

SHRM Human Resource Games promote human resource education, the value of the Professional in Human Resource (PHR) certification exam and showcase the development of students in this critical field. Competencies include mastery of all federal laws and regulations, strategic human resource management, workforce planning and employment, compensation and benefits, human resource development, employee and labor relations, global human resource management and risk management.

The competition is played using a “Jeopardy” format with five rounds, one semi-final and one final round. Liberty entered two teams into the competition. Both teams entered the semi-finals holding first and second place in the state with significant margin points ahead of the other teams.

The LU Red Team tied with the 2008 Virginia State and SE Regional Champions from Virginia Commonwealth University in the semifinals, but was defeated after missing the tie-breaking question. The LU Blue Team then defeated the same VCU Gold team in the final round.

Spring 2009 is the first semester Liberty’s School of Business has offered a specialization in Human Resource Management. Students can now receive a Bachelor of Science in Business with a Human Resource specialization.