November 2007 Program
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
The Hotel Roanoke & Conference Center
Registration: 11:30 a.m.
Networking: 11:30 a.m. - Noon
Lunch: Noon
Program* immediately following lunch
"Creating Momentum for Your Workplace Diversity Program"
Presented by Mauricio Velásquez
President & CEO
The Diversity Training Group

What creates momentum with your diversity efforts and endeavors? Once you have momentum, what maintains the momentum and most importantly what kills momentum? This will be a highly interactive session that focuses on the critical success factors that ensure long-term success of your diversity efforts. Mauricio Velásquez has worked with and taught at over a dozen universities from community colleges to public and private universities.

Mauricio is a graduate of the University of Virginia (B.A. Economics & Philosophy) and The George Washington University (M.B.A. Human Resources Management). He is a former human resources generalist and also served as a demographic researcher for the Internal Revenue Service where he first anticipated the rise of diversity inside and outside the workplace. Mr. Velásquez has trained over 450,000 employees, managers, and executives in the areas of diversity, gender equity, mentoring and multicultural marketing and selling.

Please make reservations by utilizing the on-line event reservation form or e-mailing Joy Hanson at jhanson@iamrrha.org. Please include "RVSHRM RSVP" in the subject line. Registration Deadline is Wednesday, November 21.

* We have applied for HRCI credit for this program. Approval is pending as of 11/5/07.

“Change starts when someone sees the next step”.

In our roles as Human Resource professionals we are constantly being asked to manage change and to function as the change agent for our organizations.
Thanks to Jack Smalley who presented “Managing Organizational Change” in our October meeting. Jack shared information on communication, competencies needed for change management, how to handle resistance to change, etc. I found the presentation to be very beneficial to our membership.

Are you making the most of your SHRM membership? We frequently hear from members, “I had no idea SHRM had that benefit,” so I wanted to share some benefits SHRM offers our members.

NEW! HR Career Mapping Guide

• Interactive Career Mapping Tool to plan your HR career.
• Evaluate your current role, identify the next possible career step, and determine how to reach the goal.
• Familiarizes you with the education, skills and competencies necessary for various HR positions.
• Assess where you are today, where you should realistically expect to head next, and how to get there.
• www.shrm.org/hrcareerguide

NEW! SHRM Human Resource Curriculum Guidebook and Templates for Undergraduate and Graduate Programs

• Designed to assist in the dissemination of HR knowledge that will better prepare students and the organizations they support
• Key elements of HR curriculum
• Identified 13 HR content areas that all HR students must have
• Learning Modules – combinations of HR content, personal competencies essential to HR and the application of relevant business or policy skills

SHRM Free Webcasts

• Webcasts are one-hour online seminars
• Free for SHRM members
• Most count for recertification credit
• Learn new HR information from your desk
• Webcasts are archived for viewing at any time
• www.shrm.org/webcast
  

Hope to see you on November 27, 2007 at Hotel Roanoke for our Diversity program!

Barbara

HOTEL ROANOKE, OCTOBER 23, 2007
10:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.

The following Board Members were in attendance:
            Barbara Phelps, Becky Reynolds, Johna Campbell, Sharon Bowers, Sandy Hamilton, Michelle Glynn, Debbie Reid, Donna Tatum, Todd Leeson, Jeff VanDoren, and Matt Duffy.

            The meeting was called to order by Barbara Phelps, 2007 President.

            Motion was made by Becky Reynolds and seconded by Sharon Bowers to approve the minutes of the September 25, 2007 meeting.  The motion was passed.

            Michelle Glynn reported that paperwork has been submitted to charter our Student Chapter at Virginia Western Community College.  Installation of Officers will be held at 6:00 p.m., November 27th, at Virginia Western Community College.  Board Members are asked to attend this installation. 

            Motion was made by Sharon Bowers and seconded by Becky Reynolds to pay for dues and meals in 2008 for one advisor of our Student Chapter.  The motion was passed.  We were reminded that we also pay for Student Chapter members’ meals and dues.  

            Becky Reynolds reported that she is still working on at-large membership lists.  A discussion was held concerning payment of dues for members who are retired and members in transition. Motion was made by Debbie Reid and seconded by Sharon Bowers to pay 2008 local dues for active retirees.  The motion was passed.  This policy will be reviewed annually.  Members in transition will be directed to the National website to find rules regarding National dues payment during their transitional period.   Local dues for members in transition will be addressed on a case-by-case basis.

            It was decided that the Membership Committee can request personal information (home address, etc.) from members.  Becky Reynolds also reported that diversity information on our membership has been requested from National.  

            Jeff VanDoren suggested that sponsors for meetings be listed on the website with their logo if desired, recognized during the meeting, be allowed to present a 1-3 minute speech during the meeting, and offered a booth to be set up outside the meeting room. Beginning in 2008 the fees for sponsorship are:
            $200 Members (includes 2 lunches)  
            $300 Non-Members (includes 2 lunches)
            More than one sponsor per meeting is permitted but not encouraged. 

            Johna Campbell announced she has been participating in a manufacturing group whose purpose is to study qualified skill sets needed for the manufacturing industry.   On November 13th, Virginia Western Community College, 7:30 a.m. there will be a meeting concerning these issues.  This meeting will be announced to our membership and members are encouraged to attend. 

            Debbie Reid announced that Survey Monkey could be used for our diversity survey.  We will upgrade the survey for $20 to include more questions and the questions will concentrate on diversity.

            Debbie Reid attended the Diversity Conference and will report on the conference at the November meeting.

            Barbara Phelps suggested that a December meeting and silent auction be held.  A date and meeting place should be set this week.  Donna Tatum will be contacted to see if a December social and auction is still feasible. 

            There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned.

Respectfully submitted,

Sandy Hamilton
Secretary

As HR Professionals, it's important to know what is going on in the world of our employees. The Diversity Committee plans to make this a regular feature of the newsletter. If there are events that you know about and would like to see listed, be sure to let me know - Debbie Reid - dreid528@hotmail.com.

Diversity Calendar
November 2007

National American Indian Heritage Month

1 - All Saints' Day (Christian, Roman Catholic) All Saints' Day is a Christian holy day observed by many Western churches on November 1 and by Eastern churches on the first Sunday after Pentecost. The day now honors all saints of the church, even those not known by name.

1 - Dia de los Muertos (Mexico, Latin America) El Dia de los Muertos (the Day of the Dead), a Mexican celebration, is a day to celebrate, remember and prepare special foods in honor of those who have departed. On this day in Mexico, the streets near the cemeteries are filled with decorations of papel picado , flowers, candy calaveras (skeletons and skulls), and parades.

2 - All Souls' Day (Roman Catholic) All Souls' Day is a Roman Catholic day commemorating the faithful departed or those baptized Christians believed to be in purgatory.

9 - Taste of Culture, held during lunchtime in downtown Roanoke's Century Plaza, located on Church Avenue across from Fire Station #1 and behind Center in the Square. International students from Hollins University, Roanoke College, Virginia Tech, Virginia Western Community College, Ferrum College, and National Business College will be participating. Food, entertainment, and much more.

9 – Diwali (Hindu) One of the biggest festivals of Hindus, Deepawali or Diwali in India symbolizes the victory of good over evil, and lamps (called diyas or kandils) are lit as a sign of celebration and hope for humankind. This festival is celebrated for five continuous days, with the third day being celebrated as the main Diwali or as 'Festival of Lights'.

12 - Birthday of Baha'u'llah (Baha'i) Baha'u'llah (1817-1892), the Founder of the Baha'i Faith, is recognized as the most recent in a line of Divine Messengers that stretches back beyond recorded time and includes Abraham, Moses, Buddha, Zoroaster, Christ and Muhammad.

Read the summary of the 2007 SHRM Masters Series, sponsored by the SHRM Foundation. Speakers include Dr. Lynda Gratton, Dr. Rita Gunther-McGrath and Dr. Suzanne Berger.

The sale of raffle tickets at the October 24th meeting raised $94.00 for the SHRM Foundation. Congratulations to our winners, Keith Brown, Job Placement Officer with the Roanoke Technical Education Center ($25.00 gift certificate to Abuelo’s), Teresa Noakes with Bright Services ($25.00 gift certificate to Abuelo’s) and Elaine Rorrer, Human Resource Manager with CMR Institute. (How to Be the Employee Your Company Can’t Live Without by Glenn Sheppard) Prizes were donated by Express Personnel Services. Thanks to all who contributed, we appreciate your donations.

We will need auction items for the silent auction in December so please contact me with your donations. Thank you in advance.

For more information or to make prize donations for monthly drawings, please contact Donna Tatum at 540-389-8978 or donna.tatum@expresspersonnel.com.

Workforce Readiness

The Workforce Readiness Committee met at Daily Grind on 419 on 10/29.  Plans were made for the Career Day Seminars at William Byrd HS that will beheld on Tuesday 11/13. The Committee will meet again on Friday 11/9 for a follow up meeting and to go through the presentations as a group before presenting to the high school seniors the following week.  If you are interested in volunteering and helping students prepare to enter the workforce, please contact Lauren Prada at lauren.prada@adeccona.com.

HRM Certificate Program
Begins in January

Mary Baldwin College will offer its HRM Certificate Program in Roanoke beginning on January 24, 2008. This popular 13-week course will meet once per week on Thursday nights from 6:00 - 9:00 p.m. at WDBJ/Channel 7 in the Community Room. Dan Oyler will facilitate the preparation course for HR professionals interested in sitting for the PHR or SPHR exam. Participants will receive a certificate from the college and CEUs. For more information or to register, visit Mary Baldwin’s Web site at www.mbc.edu/learninc or contact Dan Dowdy at 767-6173 or ddowdy@mbc.edu .