SoACE Updates

ER Summit Updates - Professional Development

Employer Relations Summit 2020 Updates

May 22, 2020 by 0 Comments

Join Us Virtually June 24-25

Employer Relations summit June 24-25

In response to the coronavirus pandemic, the SoACE Board of Directors has changed the format for the 2020 Employer Relations Summit from in-person to virtual. We feel this adjustment is in the best interest of our members to ensure everyone remains safe during this time of uncertainty while still allowing for the exchange of ideas and best practices.

The planning committee has put together an excellent event, and we are excited that hosting the event virtually will allow even more members to participate!

We hope you will join us virtually on June 24-25 for the sixth annual SoACE Employer Relations Summit. Please see below for information on our keynote speaker and employer panelists. More details on roundtable and breakout session topics coming soon!

Registration is still open!
Registration Rates:
SoACE Members: $25
Non-Members: $50
Registration fees include: keynote speaker, breakout sessions (Weds & Thurs), networking coffee chat, roundtable discussions (Wednesday), and an employer spotlight panel.
Register Today!

Keynote Speaker

Dr. Karen Lindsey
Rebranding, Rebuilding, and Reimagining Amid a Pandemic

Karen Lindsey

Dr. Karen Lindsey will share strategies that employers and employer relations professionals might consider as every industry, institution and individual will need to be rebranded and reimagined post the COVID-19 pandemic. Join us for this motivational, practical, timely and informative keynote on Wednesday, June 24 at 10:15am EST.

Karen Lindsey, Ph.D. currently serves as a professor of Strategic Communication at Texas Christian University and a communication consultant to higher education leaders across the country. Dr. Lindsey’s extensive experience encompasses corporate public relations and higher education career center leadership.

Employer Panelists

To kick off day two of the virtual ER Summit, we are excited to host an employer panel with representatives from BNSF Railway, The Walt Disney Company, Fidelity Investments, and State Farm. The employer panel will be held on Thursday, June 25 from 10-11:15am EST and moderated by Matthew Battista, Manager of Employer Development at the University of Tampa.

KIM CUMMINGS, Assistant Vice President, Human Resources and Diversity | BNSF Railway

Kim Cummings

Kim Cummings, SCP, SPHR is assistant vice president, Human Resources and Diversity at BNSF Railway. In this role, Kim has responsibility for BNSF Railway’s diversity and inclusion efforts, EEO and HR Compliance. She also provides leadership to the HR matrix teams supporting Law, State/Federal Govt Affairs, Corporate Communications, Claims, Compliance and Audit Services, and Technology Services.

Kim has spent over 20 years in leadership roles encouraging and promoting employee engagement in companies that include Belo Broadcasting, Burger King Corporation, Dell and Target Corporation. Kim is a thought leader in the space of Diversity & Inclusion receiving numerous community service and business awards that include “HR Professional of the Year” designation by Ogletree Deakins Law Firm and the Dallas Chamber of Commerce, DiversityFIRST™ Award from the National Diversity Council, Texas Most Powerful Business Women by Texas Diversity Magazine.

Kim received her bachelor’s degree in Social Work from Texas State University graduating from the University’s Emerging Leader program and was inducted into Who’s Who in College & Universities students. Kim received her master’s degree from the University of Texas at Austin. She holds a Senior Professional designation in Human Resources and certified employee relations credentials. Kim is a professional member of the Fort Worth Human Resources Group and National Society of Human Resource Management.

WAYNE HAMPTON, Campus Recruitment | Walt Disney Company

Wayne Hampton

Wayne Hampton graduated from Auburn University with a degree in Mass Communications and worked for a media company in Burbank, California for three years upon graduation. After that, Wayne began his career with the Walt Disney Company 29 years ago by working in Operations (all four Florida theme parks and four of the Florida resorts) and then in recruiting (both domestically and internationally). Currently, Wayne is part of Campus Recruitment, and his direct reports recruit students for internships within Disney Parks, Experiences, and Products.

MARK PULLAM, University Talent | Fidelity Investments

Mark Pullam

Mark A. Pullam works in the University Talent group at Fidelity Investments. His primary responsibility is building relationships with Colleges and Universities in the SW Region of the US. These states and sites include the following: Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Florida, and Utah.

With more than 24 years of professional experience, Mark’s strengths are communication and relationship building. Prior to working for Fidelity Investments, Mark was an Associate Director for Employer Relations at the University of North Texas Career Center, under the leadership of Dr. Bonita Vinson. Mark also serves as an Adjunct Instructor in the G. Brint Ryan College of Business at the University of North Texas. He instructs the course: BUSI 2200 Critical Thinking and Decision Making.

Additionally, Mark has served in the role(s): Campus Executive Officer for National American University, Campus Director ITT Technical Institute (Nashville, TN) and Regional Manager for Kaplan University. Mark has a passion for higher education and helping students reach their potential both academically and in earning professional positions.
Mark is originally from Fort Worth, Texas. He is proud graduate of O.D.Wyatt HS (1990), Lindenwood University (BA,1994), University of Phoenix (MBA, 2006), Walden University (Ed.S, 2013), and currently a doctoral student pursuing an Ed.D in Learning and Organizational Change at Baylor University.

ERIC SCHULTING, Director of Talent Acquisition | State Farm

Eric Schulting

Eric Schulting is a Human Resources leader with 25 years’ experience in several different HR disciplines including Talent Acquisition, Employee Relations, HR Consulting, Talent Management, Performance Management, and Total Rewards. His experience also includes working for two different Fortune 100 companies in two different industries; insurance and retail. Currently, Eric is the Director of Talent Acquisition for State Farm Insurance Companies, located in Richardson (Dallas), Texas.

We look forward to seeing you online next month at the 2020 Employer Relations Summit!

Questions? Reach out to the Summit Committee Co-Chairs Kim Satz or Beth Mannella.
Post by Brittany Mulcahey, University of Georgia, SoACE Employer Relations Summit Planning Committee

Technology KG

3 reasons why you should submit a proposal for the SoACE Technology Boot Camp

May 8, 2020 by 0 Comments

By Danielle Golinsky, Elon University, SoACE Technology KG 

The SoACE Knowledge Group is excited to announce the upcoming SoACE Technology Boot Camp which will be held virtually on Wednesday, July 29th and Thursday, July 30th 2020. Proposals are now being accepted and reviewed. I would love to see a submission from you! Why? Read on!

As the coordinator of the boot camp, it is my hope to get you jazzed up about this virtual event because there really is just so much to learn! Not only do I hope that individuals register by the masses, I also hope that we have a great pool of submissions. I know that life has recently been throwing us all a bunch of personal and professional curve balls, and I know that we are all adjusting every single day to this “new normal”. I’ve been greatly impressed with my colleagues near and far quickly shifting their roles virtually. It happened fairly quickly for us at Elon and it definitely took everyone a bit by surprise. Although, for me, I have since adjusted with my new work routine and environment, it has really provided me to reflect about the work that I do and how much I truly get my cup filled by meeting with students in person. Although it’s not possible to meet in person at this time, I believe that this boot camp, in my opinion, is well timed, and extremely relevant to something that we can all relate to – how essential technology is in our daily lives.

Now, why should you submit a proposal? Let me tell you!

  1. It’s not hard! The proposal form will only take a few minutes of your time. Below are some things you should be thinking about:
    – What do you want your learning objectives to be?
    – A longer statement about your session along with a few sentence blurb that will be used for marketing
    – Will this be aligned with the marketing track or the technology track, or both?
  2. Highlight a cool accomplishment of you/your team. Nothing is better than being able to showcase and showoff some pretty cool things that you’ve been doing in your role or things that your team is doing that is in alignment with the theme of the boot camp. Share with the rest of the SoACE community what you’re up to. It’s okay to toot your own virtual horn!
  3. Gain professional development experience, without leaving your home/office (or wherever you will find yourself in July). Although many of us are experiencing work budget mindfulness and may not be able to travel for work or engage in in-person professional development experiences, have no fear. You’ll be able to stretch yourself professionally and present a 1-hour session on your topic in a purely virtual fashion. All for free! I have a feeling that all of us will be a bit more comfortable presenting virtually over time.

Have I convinced you yet? If so, find the proposal submission form here. Questions about submitting? Want to brainstorm some ideas? Contact Danielle Golinski (dgolinski@elon.edu). I can’t wait to help you out!

Save the Date- SoACE Technology Boot Camp

Letters from the President

Letter from the President: Charlie Wilder

April 24, 2020 by 0 Comments

These are uncertain and unprecedented times. What began as an unidentified cause of pneumonia in Wuhan, China, has snowballed overnight into a global crisis.

With the suspension of public gatherings and social distancing guidelines, many Americans are working remotely, facing temporary shutdowns at work, or are unemployed. Children are home from school and daycare, restaurants are only offering take-out, temperatures are taken at the doors of medical clinics, our sporting events and religious services have been cancelled or moved online, Amazon deliveries have been delayed, and, for some strange reason, the supermarket is constantly out of toilet paper.

Countries the world over are implementing various restrictions to either mitigate or suppress our new enemy, COVID-19. This enemy isn’t a radical extremist group or hostile foreign power; it isn’t even a person. While many of humanity’s conflicts and struggles to date have been us-versus-them scenarios, in our current struggle, there is only us. Now, more than ever, we can all say with confidence as a global community, “we are in this together.”

Even so, much of the future remains unclear and out of our control. We wonder to ourselves, “How long will this last? When will we return to life as usual?” Sooner or later, this crisis will end. While we have time to reflect during this period of isolation, we must ask ourselves, “How do we want to have changed when our routines are back to normal? At the end of this challenge, how are we better than we were at the beginning?”

Already in our profession, we’ve seen career services and college recruiting adapt as in-person career fairs transition to a virtual format. Suddenly, we are relying heavily on technology that’s been available for several years as our meetings, appointments, and interviews move online. As a profession, we are forced to experience what many have been wondering for some time – that much of our work can continue undisrupted outside of face-to-face interactions. The value of an in-person interview, a face-to-face interaction with a student during a career fair, a visit to campus or a company site, or many of the other ways we work through personal interactions may never be replaced, but, in the absence of in-person exchanges, we are learning how to still facilitate college students through the career development process and into meaningful post-graduate roles.

Coronavirus has forced us to think outside of the box to get our jobs done. Strategies we are using now to replace in-person communication can be applied to supplement and enhance our work once we have the luxury again of being in the same room with more than 10 people. My hope is that, when we all make it back to the office, we hold on to these lessons and look for ways to expand our reach, to work smarter and not harder, by continuing to apply them where appropriate. We can grow and improve from what we learn through these challenges, and by doing so we will create positive change in ourselves, at home, and at work.

COVID-19 has caused us to face many challenges in our personal and professional lives. While the struggle is real, so is the opportunity we have to emerge on the other side ready to define the future of career services and college recruiting. I encourage you to keep your conversations going within the SoACE Knowledge Groups through Slack and consider submitting your innovative technology solutions to the Technology KG Boot Camp (July 29-30), deadline April 17. We look forward to “seeing” everyone June 24-25 at the Virtual Employer Relations Summit. If you haven’t already, please consider submitting a program proposal before April 30!

Elbow Bumps to All,

Charlie Wilder, PhD
2019-20 SoACE President
Auburn University