Human Resource Management

Video of Craft your career at WMU Haworth: Human resource management major

Craft your career at WMU haworth

At the Haworth College of Business, students craft their careers with experiences that take them outside the classroom and their comfort zones, leading to increased confidence and job opportunities. Hear from Ambika—in her own words—about how WMU Haworth has supported her.

Human resource management

A human resource management major at Western Michigan University's Haworth College of Business will give you the specialized skills to help organizations build a lasting competitive advantage through their most critical resource—their employees. The program provides professional and technical skills required to understand and strategically solve the challenges facing today’s changing workplace and workforce. The major prepares students for successful careers by emphasizing topics consistent with guidelines from the industry's leading professional organization, the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). These include:

Talent acquisition and management
Total rewards (compensation and benefits management)
Employee relations
Organizational change
Training and development
Human resource analytics

Upon successful completion of the program, students may pursue human resource generalist positions as well as specialist positions in recruiting, staffing, compensation and benefit management, training, diversity and inclusion, union relations, and more. You may choose to work in small, mid-size, or large corporations, or non-profit organizations operating in Michigan, the Midwest, nationally or globally.

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pride in our program

Our faculty are Ph.D.-level experts in the field of human resources with years of hands-on industry experience. In addition, many of them work together with students to provide cutting-edge, practical, experiential learning opportunities through research activities. Faculty members serve as mentors who personally connect with students to help them successfully launch their careers in a variety of workplaces. What does our human resource management degree offer?

We are one of a few programs in the state of Michigan recognized by the Society for Human Resource Management as having a curriculum consistent with their Body of Competency and Knowledge guidelines.
Our student organization, Society for Excellence in Human Resources, has repeatedly earned the Superior Merit award for top national student SHRM chapters.
Several of our students earn scholarships through the Department of Management each year. Top students may choose to pursue graduate degrees at the best HR master’s programs in the country, earning thousands of dollars in scholarships at universities such as Minnesota, Illinois, Cornell, Rutgers and Michigan State, and doubling their starting salaries through offers from Fortune 500 companies.

Getting involved

The Society for Excellence in Human Resources is the WMU student chapter of the SHRM. As a human resource management student, you can join more than 60 members for professional and social events, some of which count toward the business college's Student Professional Readiness Series requirements. Getting involved in the society will help you gain valuable professional development and networking opportunities with local HR professionals while forming lifelong friendships.