APICS, the Educational Society for Resource Management, is a group of business majors who have made a name for themselves as of late.
Last semester, Terry Wells, APICS adviser and Management and Marketing lecturer, e-mailed an application for the APICS Scholar Award to two APICS students who then applied.
Senior president of APICS Heather Gonyo and senior Jessica Schneidler were the first Eau Claire students to receive the APICS Scholar Award.
Gonyo said she was happy to be one of the two Blugolds to represent their school in Texas and she had no complaints about the $700 that each of them were given.
The pair of seniors will be working informational sessions in San Antonio, Texas from Oct. 27-30.
APICS is a non-profit international educational organization respected throughout the world for its education and professional certification programs. With nearly 70,000 individual and corporate members in 20,000 companies worldwide, APICS is dedicated to using education to improve business standards.
The Student Chapter Management Program is designed as a management tool for student chapters that are seeking to improve their processes, products and services. It also encourages the operation of a well-managed chapter that is properly balanced, and effective in meeting their customers needs.
In her eighth year as APICS adviser, Wells said the group has come a long way since the day they started with only two active members.
Student chapter mangagement requires attention to five categories: administration, education, programs, membership and public relations. Activities within each category provide educational opportunities and enhance a chapter’s capabilities.
Since 1998, the group has won two Silver Circle Awards, awarding the team $50 in an educational materials certificate and a plaque of recognition.
“It’s a big event,” Wells said. “It’s something that these students should be proud of. It takes a lot of hard work.”
The last two years, the team has won the Gold Circle Award in which it was awarded a $75 educational Materials Certificate and another plaque of recognition.
Wells said the team has a long-term goal of winning the Platinum Circle Award which would give the team an additional $275 in an educational materials certificate ($75 for the Gold and $200 for the Platinum).
In order for a team to earn the Platinum Circle Award, a chapter must have earned the Gold Circle Award for five consecutive years.
Each year, the APICS members gather all the things they did for the semester to earn points and fill out the proper paperwork, which is critiqued by the local Indianhead Professional Chapter as well as by a regional chapter.
Points are earned through various activities within the five categories.
Wells said the group was very creative in earning additional bonus points from such activities as having guest speakers, going on manufacturing tours and through students who have internship experience.
The group’s work is evaluated on an individual basis. There is no competition among the different groups.