New HRD Alumni Club to Endow Scholarship
at the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies

An exercise begun just over a year ago in an HRD class has blossomed into a successful new professional development and networking association for GSU’s HRD graduates. In June, the Alumni Association’s Board of Directors approved the charter of the Human Resource Development Alumni Club.

Gary May (’98), speaker at a recent meeting, joined by (L to R) Scottie O'Toole (’01), founding president of the club, and Tom Myers (’00).

“The idea for ‘capturing’ a good HRD alumni list from all the fragments and precedents of programs that fed into the current HRD program began as an exercise in an action learning class,” said Verna Willis, associate professor and former director of the HRD program. After she told a class that it was an “intractable problem” to contact alumni from the various programs that had fed into human resources, Willis said the students took it on as a challenge. “They spent about 20 minutes generating fresh questions that might yield a way to solve this problem,” she said.

Willis credits student Tracy Roberts, an employee in Advancement Services, for asking key questions during class and returning with a proposed practicum used to mine old class rosters and other documents to help unearth HRD graduates who had been missing from GSU alumni records. The final list contained approximately 750 HRD graduates.

Scottie O’Toole, (’01), founding president, owns an independent HR consulting and contract recruiting firm. She said the club will provide HRD alumni with professional development, personal networking and a continued connection to Georgia State. “We felt it was important to provide opportunities for our alumni to network with one another and with other professionals in our field,” she said.

Nearly 200 alumni have initiated contact since the club was formed. President Neelam Sharma (’01) and founding members are excited about their strong response and participation in the club’s inaugural programs.

The HRD Alumni Club is now planning a fund-raising campaign to endow a new Verna Willis Scholarship, which will be awarded annually to an outstanding HRD student. “Verna was fundamental in establishing and shaping the Human Resource Development program at Georgia State. We believe this is an excellent way to honor her and provide a great service to our students,” said Ronni French, (’87), director of development for AYSPS. The group plans to award its first scholarship in the fall of 2004.

– Rick Clark, GSU Alumni Office, contributed

For more information, go to www.andrewyoungschool.org