The WCASHRM Board met on January 24^th. There were some really great ideas for 2012. We believe that we can achieve Platinum Chapter status this year!

Look for icebreaker topics on your table at the monthly meetings. This will give you something to discuss with those sitting closest to you prior to the start of the program. Sit with people you don’t ordinarily sit with and take a few minutes to discuss the icebreaker. Invite other HR people to come with you to the meeting so they will have the opportunity to network with members of the group.

You now have an opportunity to win a Kindle just by participating in Chapter activities. Earn points throughout the year for a drawing to be held at the Christmas party in December.

I encourage all of you to make plans to attend the ARSHRM State Conference in Springdale, April 25-27, the Managers’ Seminar in Hot Springs on August 23, and the ELLA Conference in Little Rock on September 19-20. These are great opportunities for continuing education and networking without having to travel out of state. The registration fees are very reasonable for all of these events and WCASHRM benefits by your attendance in these activities.

SHRM also has some outstanding conferences including the National SHRM Conference which is in Atlanta this year. National SHRM members will receive information on all of the SHRM conferences as well as discounts on registration for being a member.

Don’t forget to renew your WCASHRM membership. National SHRM members who designate WCASHRM as their primary chapter will not have to pay dues this year, but you still need to fill out the form and turn it in to Deanna Harris.

If you have any questions or suggestions that I can help you with, please don’t hesitate to contact me by phone at 870-246-1039 or by email at jhilton@banksouthern.com.

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New this year:  Enter to win a Kindle Fire for your WCASHRM Chapter Involvement including Foundation donations and other activities!!  For the various activities listed below, you'll receive a ticket(s) eligible for drawing. Tickets will be awarded at each chapter meeting.

*  Ticket for volunteering - Committee, Mock Interviews, Senior Exhibitions, etc.

*  Ticket for coming to a monthly meeting

*  Ticket for contributing to the SHRM Foundation - 1 ticket for every $5.00 donated

*  Attending the Managers Seminar - 5 tickets

* Attending the ARSHRM State Conference or ELLA Conference - 5 tickets

*  Ticket for writing an article for the newsletter

*  Ticket for mentoring a student or hosting an intern

*  Recruit a new member - 5 tickets

Tickets will be given throughout the year and the Kindle Fire will be awarded at the Christmas Party in December - You MUST be present to win.

Registration is now open for the 2012 Arkansas SHRM HR Conference & Expo! Go to http://www.hr2012.org for more details.

Navigating the field of Human Resources can be a challenge. Journey with us at the 2012 ARSHRM HR Conference to learn the guiding principles and strategies you need to put HR on the Map with your organization.

This conference is your passport to dynamic HRCI submitted concurrent sessions, engaging keynote speakers, including Sam Glenn, Mary Lucas and Barbara Brannen, and networking with other HR professionals.

NEW MEMBERS

I need YOUR HELP welcoming our new members to our chapter. As you know, we always announce our new members in the monthly newsletter and introduce them at every meeting. However, we need to be doing more to make our members feel WELCOME and I need your HELP.

I know we can all remember how it felt to be a new member walking into a group that seems to know everyone. It takes time to build relationships, and this is one of the great benefits of joining our chapter. You can help me by making an effort to introduce yourself to all new faces in the room and inviting them to sit with you. Jill Hilton plans to put an ICE BREAKER on the table at each meeting, so you can always use the ice breaker to engage our new members in conversation. We appreciate your help with this and look forward to making some great new friends.

To our new members - My best advice for you to get to know your fellow chapter members is to VOLUNTEER. We are always looking for volunteers… Members have the option to volunteer when they complete their membership application or reply to requests by Board/ Committee Chairs throughout the year when we ask for volunteers via the newsletter or at a monthly meeting.

To all our members - As a reminder, the “Member Directory” is accessible to all members on the Star Chapter website. This directory provides you with member contact information. (IMPORTANT: Please do not share this information with others outside the chapter.)  You can access this information by logging into Star Chapter with your User ID and Password. Please email deanna.harris@sflic.net if you don’t know this information. Also, if your contact information is incorrect, please let me know and I can update this as well.

Thank you all for your assistance in welcoming our new members.

MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE

I am looking for volunteers to be on the membership committee. If you are interested in helping me recruit new members, please email me at deanna.harris@sflic.net. Our chapter goal this year is 85 members, so I need some help hitting this number.

Also, please keep in mind that as a WCASHRM member, we are all essentially on the membership committee. If you know of an HR professional in the area that is not a chapter member, please forward their contact information to me. As Jill Hilton mentioned in the meeting yesterday, we are giving out chances to win a Kindle Fire in December. All referrals are worth one chance to win, so stay tuned for more information.

PHOTOS

Please forward a JPEG photo to me at deanna.harris@sflic.net, so that I can update the Member Directory on the website. This should help all of our members to match a name with a face.

If I don’t have a photo of you by the February meeting, I will be taking photos of members before and after the meeting.

2012 MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL

If you have not already renewed your membership for 2012, now is the time. The Board of Directors is very pleased that we were able to waive the $30 membership dues for WCASHRM members who are also SHRM members. (As a reminder, this applies to members with WCASHRM as their PRIMARY CHAPTER.) IMPORTANT: Please provide your SHRM # on your application, so we can verify that you are a SHRM member. If you are a member of another Arkansas Chapter, then you will still have to pay the membership dues to join WCASHRM.

As a reminder, the dues increase on 3/31/12 for Non-SHRM Members from $30 to $40 and for SHRM Members (who designate another chapter as their primary chapter) from $45 to $60.

Your annual dues can be paid online via credit. (Go to “Member Log-In” on the wcashrm.org website, type in your WCASHRM ID and Password and select “Pay My Dues.”) If you do pay by credit card, you will still need you to complete a membership application that can be mailed, faxed or scanned and emailed.

SHRM

If you are not a member of SHRM, NOW IS THE TIME TO JOIN. WCASHRM is waiving membership dues in 2012 for SHRM members (members with WCASHRM as their primary chapter), so take advantage of this great savings.

Knowledge increases value as an HR professional. SHRM is dedicated to providing the resources that are essential to staying in the forefront of the HR profession, as well as increasing the HR competencies of its members. Whether you are looking for advice, new ideas, or even a new job, opportunities available through SHRM are abundant. By joining SHRM, you will demonstrate your commitment to your career-development and your profession.

If you are interested in joining the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), please contact Deanna Harris, WCASHRM VP Membership, at membership@wcashrm.org or contact SHRM directly at SHRM.MemberRelations@shrm.org. The annual SHRM dues are $180 for active or renewing members, but SHRM is offering a new member discount, $15 off the membership price ($165 v. $180). The Member Discount Code is CHSWD. Also, please add Chapter #467 to your application, so they know you are a WCASHRM member and will add you to our roster.

WCASHRM sponsors one (1) $500 scholarship to an undergraduate (junior or senior status) or graduate student annually. The 2012-2013 scholarship is open to any student who meets the following requirements:

Junior/Senior status or graduate student

A resident or enrolled student in an accredited college/university for the current school year in the West Central Arkansas region as defined above

Pursuing a course of study in a business/human resource related field

Minimum 3.00 GPA overall

The application deadline is April 16, 2012.  Questions should be directed to Kelli Albrecht, PHR at kalbrecht@npcc.edu.

Download the Scholarship Application

For SHRM Updates, click here for the Monthly Southwest Central Region update, or below for the SHRM quarterly update. Lots of great information is included in these documents!

2012 Exam Application Submission Dates

Go to www.hrci.org for to learn more about the benefits of being PHR/SPHR/GPHR Certified.

For questions about Certification, contact JoLen Jolly, Chapter Certification Director, at jjolly@diamondbanking.com.

YOUR ASSISTANCE IS NEEDED!  Please email your representative and ask him/her to co-sponsor the Neal/Gerlach House Concurrent Resolution!  Representatives Richard Neal (D-MA) and Jim Gerlach (R-PA) will introduce a bi-partisan House Concurrent Resolution the week of February 4, 2012, that highlights the important role employer-sponsored retirement plans play in helping Americans save and plan for retirement. To date, SHRM has assisted in garnering 56 co-sponsors! Click HERE to see if your member has co-sponsored the resolution.

Please Take This Action:
If your representative has not yet co-sponsored, please write to him/her using SHRM’s HRVoice program, follow these steps:

1. Log onto the alert on the SHRM Advocacy Action Center by visiting HERE
2. Please personalize your message with your own story
3. Be sure to include your complete home mailing address.

IRS Issues Guidance on Reporting Health Coverage Cost on Forms W-2 

On Jan. 3, 2012, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued Notice 2012-9, with interim guidance on meeting the requirement under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) to report on employees' W-2 forms the cost of their group health insurance coverage. This information must be furnished beginning with 2012 W-2 forms, which generally must be provided to employees by the end of January 2013. The aggregate cost of an employee's health care coverage is to be determined under rules similar to the rules for determining the applicable premium for COBRA continuation coverage.

Generally, all employers are required to meet the new W-2 reporting requirement, but the IRS provided some exemptions in transition relief, including one for small employers who filed fewer than 250 Forms W-2 in 2011. Such employers are not required to report the value of employer-provided health care for 2012.

For more information, read here:

http://www.shrm.org/hrdisciplines/benefits/Articles/Pages/W2HealthCost.aspx