On October 28th, IOHRM students and faculty participated in the 10th annual River Cities Industrial-Organizational Psychology conference. This conference, hosted by The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, boasts a wide range of speakers, student presenters, and poster submissions. The theme of this year’s conference was “Culture in the Workplace”. There were presentations given on creating effective culture, how to assess culture, the need for diversity within organizational culture, and many others. Tim Kuppler, from Human Synergistics, started off the conference with a great keynote speech on the basics of culture and climate within the workplace. There were also a large number of research posters submitted by current IOHRM students working in conjunction with the HR Science team here on Appalachian’s Campus.
One highlight of the conference was the amazing presentation given by second year students; Cheryl Nickel, Aimee Wood, and Lorin Farr. Alongside Dr. Shawn Bergman, and Dr. Chris Cunningham of UTC, these students gave an overview of Big Data and the methods used to transform standard cultures into data-driven cultures. Their presentation session was a huge hit with students and faculty alike. Lorin, Aimee, and Cheryl made Big Data seem a little less intimidating, and brought a lot of insight to the discussion panel at the conclusion of the conference.
The RCIO conference is a great way for students to engage in networking opportunities and learn more about current research and practices in the field. With so many other graduate level students in attendance, IOHRM students are able to broaden the scope of their knowledge and collaborate with others interested in the same topics. Congratulations to all those who presented their posters, and participated in another amazing RCIO conference.
IOHRM students and faculty group photo
