Reflecting on Spring 2025
As our spring semester and academic year come to a close, we wanted to take a moment to reflect on another successful year in our SHR Center at the Wisconsin School of Business. You’ve read about our fall accomplishments in our winter newsletter; this newsletter highlights a few recent successes of our Center and students.
- Mahina Adams accepted our offer to assume the SHR Center Assistant Director role. Our department, the Center, and our SHR MBA and HR BBA students are so fortunate that she is a full-time SHR team member.
- Our four Class of 2025 SHR MBAs passed their SHRM-CP exam to become SHRM-certified professionals, as did HR BBA students Lucy Callahan and Autumn Hutchens.
- Our Center hosted its third successful trek. Read more below.
- Two SHR MBAs successfully presented a networking session at the WI SHRM Student Summit, which seven of our undergraduate students attended.
- Three SHR Center MBA students were selected to pitch their case solution to the Milwaukee Brewers.
- We launched our 2025 mentorship program, thanks to the support of many of you.
- We opened registration for SHR Symposium 2025 (we hope to see you there).
- Our Class of 2026 students are headed across the United States to work in valuable summer internships, and two of our graduating students have secured exceptional human resources roles. Read more about Megan McCarthy’s experience here.
- And, we happily welcomed 28 HR BBAs and four SHR MBAs to alumni-hood.
As our SHR MBA students, Antionett, Barbara, Megan, and Prachi, celebrate the culmination of their UW–Madison careers at Union South and later at Camp Randall, they step into a world that needs their skills and leadership more than ever. We have no doubt they will positively impact their communities and beyond, and Charlie, Mahina, and I look forward to seeing all they will accomplish in the years ahead.
Thank you for your ongoing support of our Center and students; you help make our success possible. If you would like to discuss additional ways to get involved with our Center and undergraduate or graduate students, please reach out. We wish you a wonderful summer.
On, Wisconsin!
Tanya Hubanks, SHR Director
Register to Attend SHR Symposium 2025
We are excited to announce that registration is open for our SHR Symposium 2025. Our Symposium theme, HR Forward: Connections, Innovation, and Leadership, remains consistent to our values – learning, connecting, and discussing innovative topics.
This year, our Symposium will be held on Friday, October 3, at the Pyle Center in the heart of downtown Madison, Wisconsin. Check out our website at the link below to learn more about the agenda, speakers, and everything SHR!
Be a Part of SHR Symposium 2025
Speaking of our upcoming symposium, are you, your company, your firm, or your organization interested in supporting our Center through sponsorship or being a speaker at our symposium? Different sponsorship options are available; you may also be a student supporter. Our SHR Center and students appreciate your consideration to be a sponsor or speaker.
Reach out for sponsorship and speaker opportunities »
Student Update
Congratulations to our SHR MBA and HR BBA Class of 2025!
Congratulations to our Strategic Human Resources MBA and Human Resources BBA graduates! Your dedication and hard work have paid off — here’s to shaping the future of workplaces with strategy and leadership.
Where are our students headed?
The SHR Center is excited to announce our Human Resources BBA graduates are headed to great companies, including Kohl’s, PwC, Ameriprise Financial Services, and University of Wisconsin-Madison. Best wishes alumni!
Our SHR MBA Class of 2026 accepted internship offers for the summer. Companies that have hired our first-year SHR MBAs are: Abbvie, Microsoft, UnitedHealth Group, Alcon, Cigna, Citibank, and Chevron. Congrats to our Class of 2026!
Two of our Class of 2025 graduates have accepted full-time offers. Megan McCarthy will begin her role at U.S. Bank in Minneapolis and Antionett Jackson will join Wex in Portland, Maine. Prachi Garg and Barbara Trujillo are actively seeking opportunities. Learn more about Prachi and Barbara below; let us know if you know of any full-time opportunities that may be a fit for them.
Trek to Chicago Recap
Thank you to our host companies for helping make this year’s trek a success! Also thank you to the wonderful alumni and friends that joined us for our networking lunch and dinner – the trek would not have been possible without your support.
PepsiCo
Our first stop in Chicago was at PepsiCo in the the historic Post Office Building. We were joined by Senior HR Director Idris Hilliard and HR Manager Jodi Nemethy. Students were excited to learn about HR at a CPG company and tour the iconic office!
Coeur Mining
Friday kicked off with a visit to Coeur Mining. Students had the chance to hear a CHRO-CEO discussion with CHRO and Senior VP Emilie Schouten (IRRI alum) and CEO Mitchell Krebs. The conversation was insightful and students walked away with admiration for the trust the Coeur team has for each other.
Lyric Opera of Chicago
Students got to learn from the world of nonprofit at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. Thank you to Talent Management Associate Camilla Fernandez for helping us put this together! Students got to learn about different sides of HR, including union contracts and employee retention. The day ended with a tour of the beautiful venue.
Interested in learning more about the SHR trek? Check out blog posts by our students below. If you would like to be involved in our 2026 trek, please reach out to SHR Director Tanya Hubanks.
From the Classroom to the Conference Room: Our HR Trek to the Windy City
First-year SHR MBA, Calli Moraska, shares her experience on SHR’s two-day trek to Chicago.
Students visited PepsiCo, Lyric Opera, and Coeur Mining. Read to learn more about SHR’s treks!
SHR Trek to Chicago: A Weekend to Remember
Ty Day, first-year SHR MBA, was ecstatic that this year’s trek was in his favorite city – Chicago! Read to learn more about his experience visiting the host companies and why he thought the trek was so valuable top his MBA career.
Supporting our SHR Center
SHR Center Seeks Increased Enrollment
Please connect us with your colleagues or others in your network who may be interested in obtaining an MBA in human resources. We would love to speak with them! The Class of 2027 applications close on June 3, and the Class of 2028 admission process opens in September.
Make a 2025 Gift to the SHR Center
Making a gift to support our Strategic Human Resource Management Center is simple and greatly appreciated. Gift funds support invaluable initiatives within SHR, such as financing industry visits, partially funding conference attendance, case competitions, SHRM membership, and certification exam fees. Larger donations will enable us to attract the best and brightest graduate students by offering scholarships. Will you consider making a donation? Give to SHR, or reach out to Center Director Tanya Hubanks if you would like to discuss additional gift options.
Engage with us on LinkedIn and Instagram
Follow our pages on LinkedIn and Instagram to stay up to date with SHR news. Check out our new alumni, student, and speaker spotlight series to read about the people who are part of our work. If you are interested in being a featured alumni, let us know!
Hire Our Students or Be a Mentor
Interested in hiring one of our SHR MBA graduates? Interested in mentoring a SHR MBA student? Email our team at the link below to discover ways to be involved or to learn more about the either the hiring process or mentorship experience!