March madness is certainly here. The Georgetown Hoyas and their fans are not the only excited Washingtonians this week! I learned today that our chapter has been awarded the 2006 Superior Merit Award by the Society for Human Resource Management. This award recognizes excellence in chapter operations and a commitment to providing meaningful programs and services to your members.

By achieving this award, our chapter distinguishes itself as an outstanding organization dedicated to serving the needs of our members and to the advancement of the human resource management profession. Our Chapter Activity Plan, completed by our president-elect Lori Golino was impressive. Last year our volunteer leaders excelled in nearly every area outlined by SHRM for professional chapter activity. Monthly programs, membership, College relations, diversity, government affairs, HRCI Certification, SHRM Foundation, Workforce Readiness continue to be areas of focus and dedication by many volunteer leaders who comprise our mega chapter. If you are not involved in your chapter, I hope the endorsement from our national headquarters will encourage you to consider making the investment of your time and energy this year. We need you and your fresh ideas to maintain our strong presence in the DC HR community!

Do you have an HR colleague who you believe worthy of one of the prestigious HRA-NCA 2007 Strategic Business Awards? Check out our website at www.hra-nca.org for a nomination application. The deadline was extended through March 30th! This year the event is called “Human Resource Leaders: Strategically Transforming Businesses.” Nominations will be considered for the following categories: Effective Workforce Planning recognizing an innovative workforce planning program with a positive effect on the company's bottom line; Successful Worklife Strategies honoring a creative approach to work life strategies that both increase employee job satisfaction and have a positive effect on the company's financial returns; Excellence in Community Service recognizing an individual or company exemplifying community service as an important element of the organizations mission and serving as a positive example of social awareness.

We hope you will submit a nominee and that you’ll plan to join us for our Gala Event and Presentation of Awards on Thursday, April 26, 2007 at the Capital Hilton Hotel from 5:30 – 8:30 PM. This year the keynote Speaker is our business partner, Jim Dinegar, the President and CEO of the Greater Washington Board of Trade. I look forward to seeing you there!

In the coming week you will receive an e-mail from HRA-NCA with your ballot for the 2007-2008 Officer Slate. The Nominating Committee this year is comprised of Sharon Berardi, Bob Corlett, Grace Dobson, Lori Golino, and myself. We have, in accordance with our HRA-NCA Bylaws and the Nominating Committee procedures, prepared a slate of officers to be considered by our voting eligible members. There were several outstanding candidates for each position to consider this year. To those who nominated your colleagues and fellow HRA-NCA members, thank you for taking the time to submit the names for consideration and to those who self-nominated, we salute your enthusiasm for wanting to be considered as a volunteer leader! We know you will be impressed by the qualifications of those noted on the slate and I encourage each HRA- NCA member to dedicate the time to review the slate and cast their vote for the volunteer leaders who will serve the board in 2007-2008 program year. Members will be able to vote to approve the proposed slate or will be invited to write in an eligible member (as long as his/her dues are up to date) as president-elect, secretary, treasurer, VP Communications, VP Education, VP Legislative, VP Membership, VP Programs & Professional Development, and VP PR & Marketing. Voting is easy and will take just a few minutes to read the qualifications pages and a brief bio on each candidate. Please contact our administrator Teri LaBuwi if you don’t see an e-mail by April 1st inviting you to cast your vote. We will need your 'reply' by April 30th. Thank you for helping to make our chapter Superior in every way!

Carolyn Cuppernull
President

Is the award application for the Strategic Business Awards still sitting on your desk? No need to worry! The application deadline has been extended to March 30, 2007. Submit your applications TODAY!

Nominations will be considered for the following categories:

• Effective Workforce Planning recognizing an innovative workforce planning program with a positive effect on the company's bottom line.
• Successful Worklife Strategies honoring a creative approach to work life strategies that both increase employee job satisfaction and have a positive effect on the company's financial returns.
• Excellence in Community Service recognizing an individual or company exemplifying community service as an important element of the organizations mission and serving as a positive example of social awareness.

Individuals or companies may be nominated for more than one award and self-nomination is permissible. All it takes to nominate someone (or yourself) for this recognition is a brief description of the individual, team, or project deserving of this honor.

One of the most difficult career decisions an employee ever has to make is when -- and how -- to leave an organization. Tom Morris, President of Morris Associates, Inc. will highlight lessons learned about this based on more than 25 years of working with people who have reached this point. He will also share examples from his own career when he has done this, including his decision to leave a very successful position as a senior vice president with a major outplacement firm to start his own business.

For more information, please contact Stephanie Simpson at (202) 220-0767 or via email at ssimpson@fmi.org.

HRA-NCA has established a scholarship to recognize student merit, commitment, and contribution(s) to the field of Human Resource Management.

Award -- $1,500 check for tuition, fees and/or books, plus membership in HRA-NCA and meeting fees for the remainder of the academic year. Up to two scholarships may be awarded: one for an undergraduate student and one for a graduate student.

Requirements -- This competitive award program is open to all full- and part-time undergraduate and graduate students (by nomination or self-election) majoring in Human Resource Management or a related area who have completed at least one-half of a relevant degree program at the time the scholarship is awarded and have at least one semester remaining.

APPLICATION DEADLINE - FRIDAY APRIL, 6 2007.

The 2007 HRA-NCA Compensation Survey and the 2007 Benefits Survey are now open. The deadline for the Benefits Survey is this Friday, March 30th. The deadline for the Compensation Survey is May 18th. If you did not receive an e-mail invite with your organization’s login information, please go to the survey website and click on ‘Forgot username and password’ and your login will be e-mailed to you. Participation is free and convenient and all participants qualify for discounts when the surveys are released.

HRA-NCA and other area SHRM chapters have partnered with Helios HR to present the 2007 Helios Apollo Awards. These awards recognize Washington-area organizations that promote employee growth and development as an integral part of their organization culture. The application deadline is Thursday, April 26, 2007. Finalists and award recipients will be celebrated on June 8, 2007.

Like to meet others who share your interests, need your skills, and want to know what you have to offer? This is the BEST HR professionals networking event of the year!

Come and meet your contemporaries. Find out what HR professional organizations can do for you and your organization—all while having fun, enjoying elegant refreshments, and listening to management guru Bill Daniels share great ways to achieve organizational change.

A doctoral student at Capella University and also SHRM Member from Kansas, Kim Scanlan, currently pursuing a PhD in Organization and Management with an emphasis in Human Resource Management is conducting a research study entitled “University Human Resource Management Curriculums and Human Resource Competencies: A Comparative Study.”

Kim is looking for individuals who have obtained either a Masters in Human Resource Management or a MBA with HR specialization/concentration. If you are a graduate of either of these types of programs you are invited to participate in this study.

You may look up these and other members' information in the HRA-NCA online membership directory, using various search categories. Log in through the "Member Login" on the HRA-NCA Web site home page. Keep your membership record up-to-date so we don't lose touch!

HRA-NCA Welcomes These New Members

HRA-NCA invites organizations to sponsor our newsletter - or any of the following: monthly speaker presentations, our Web site, special events, etc. Interested? Contact Tricia Riviere, HRA-NCA's PR & Sponsorship Chair, or access our information on the Web site.