For Michelle Dean, an associate professor in San Diego State University’s College of Business Administration, human resource management is as varied as life itself.

Dean, who has worked with major corporations to the Federal Aviation Administration, said she found her calling when she started taking HR classes as an undergraduate at Louisiana State University.

Dean says what she found fascinating about her HR management classes was how they could be applied to virtually any corporation or organization.

She spoke recently to the U-T about the HR field.


Q:What brought you into this HR?

A:My first HR class as an undergraduate hooked me. My undergraduate professors in my HR classes were so interesting that when I got into the classroom, I said this is what I want to do. I thought I wanted to get into accounting, but the classes opened my eyes to a profession that I really knew nothing about. There are so many different avenues in this profession. That made me excited.

Q:What excites you now?

A:I continue to learn things, and I get to be a student again. HR is an awesome career path, and I can’t imagine anyone getting bored.


Q:What kinds of topics come up in your classes?

A:I tell my students that HR managers are employee advocates. When employees have a problem, HR is what touches them the most.

Students seem most interested in the legal aspects of HR. Then they will often discuss specific employment issues such as a firing without cause, dealing with bullying in the workplace, or raising the cost of insurance — all without alienating employees. It’s up to these future HR professionals to help create a more positive culture. If managers are smart, they will use HR’s expertise to make better decisions.

Q:Do you talk in your classes about how changes in laws might impact HR?


A:Yes. There are new sick-leave provisions, and the government is stepping in on mandating parental leave. OSHA (Occupational Health and Safety Administration) laws are something else to be considered. A lot of issues fall into HR’s lap.

Q:A human resource person could work for every conceivable type of company. How do you then develop a core curriculum?

A:We asked a focus group of HR professionals on what they looked for when hiring for entry-level HR positions. We have our HR certification exam content areas, and we follow the SHRM (Strategic Human Resource Management) Curriculum guidelines.

Q:You say that for someone to be a successful HR manager, they need to get out of the classroom and into the field. Where have your students gone?


A:We have taken students to Dell headquarters in Austin, and to Baker Hughes, a $25 billion oil services company in Houston, as well as Qualcomm, the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority, and Innovative Employee Solutions.

Q:You have a Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior/Human Resource Management from Louisiana State University. How common is a Ph.D. in this specialty?

A:Undergraduate degrees in this field are quite common. There are far fewer universities that offer Ph.Ds. We offered a master’s in HR but phased it out to focus on undergraduates. Ours is a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration with a specialization in human resource management. We’re the only school that offers this in San Diego.

Q:How has HR management changed over the years?


A:Forty years ago, 40 percent of HR managers were top-level managers. Today, 70 percent of the HR managers are top-level managers. The profession has moved away from being primarily transactional in nature to being more of recognized partner for achieving organizational strategic goals and objectives.

Q:Should HR managers have to be licensed before working for a medium or a large company?

A:Licenses and accreditation aren’t required. A number of certifications are now available through examination (including at SDSU), however.

Q:How old is SDSU’s HR program?


A:Our HR curriculum has been offered since fall 2008. We have grown steadily and currently have around 120 students. A solid curriculum is one piece of the puzzle. We also want our students to access co-curricular activities to supplement their classroom learning. New initiatives encourage more San Diego organizations to offer HR internships, fund studies abroad, work with recent HR alums to provide career coaching to help them in their HR careers, and reach out to high school students about careers in HR.

Q:What do you like most about your job?

A:The opportunity to have a positive impact on the lives of SDSU students both inside and outside the classroom.

Biberman is a freelance writer based in San Diego.