The Human Resource track is designed for students seeking expertise in the personnel and human resources areas. The aim is to provide students with marketable skills that enable them to successfully deal with people in organizations. After the introductory course, students go on to study a number of issues in more depth. A course in compensation and benefits administration, for example, teaches students how to establish pay scales, how to evaluate jobs in an organization, how to cost wages and benefits contracts, and how legislation applies to compensation. Other courses give students the opportunity to compare and contrast US human resources practices with those in other countries, to examine labor relations from a comparative, cross-cultural perspective, and to gain experience in negotiating through simulated collective bargaining exercises.
Students complete the track with a current topic course.
In recent years, students have examined in depth issues like affirmative action, health care, family leave, and workplace day care. Human resources students may supplement their coursework with membership in the Society for Human Resource Management . The student chapter in the College has won the Superior Merit Award of the national society several times in the last 5 years. We have placed human resource interns in positions with the City of La Crosse, UW-L, hospitals, and a variety of local businesses. Many of our graduates have been very successful in human resource and compensation positions.