UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Erin Ferris has been named the marshal to represent the School of Labor and Employment Relations at spring commencement on May 5. Ferris, who will be one of 22 marshals in the College of Liberal Arts graduation ceremony, is a Schreyer Honors College student and Paterno Fellow, and will be graduating with a degree in labor and employment relations. She will be escorted by Sarah Damaske, associate professor of labor and employment relations.
Ferris’ contributions to the Penn State community and beyond can be traced to her many summer internships and student organization leadership roles. Ferris was a peer career assistant at the Bank of America Career Services Center at Penn State where she conduced mock interviews, provided interview feedback to students and advised students on their resumes and cover letters. Ferris was also an undergraduate lab coordinator and research assistant at the Penn State Leadership and Innovation Lab. She was also heavily involved in THON, through her involvement with the Society for Human Resource Management and special interest organization, Atlas.
Despite her ever-busy schedule, Ferris said the activity that made the biggest impact on her has been being executive director for the Fresh START Day of Service. As executive director, Ferris provided oversight to the leadership team of eight directors, 90 team leaders and more than 700 volunteers. Fresh START Day of Service is designed for incoming first-year, change-of-campus, or transfer students to create new relationships with fellow Penn State students while participating in civic engagement in the local community.
“I became involved with Fresh START because of my passion for giving back to the community, but had no idea how much I would benefit personally and professionally through my participating in the organization,” said Ferris. “I overcame fears of public speaking and having difficult conversations with people while learning invaluable long-term project management skills.”
During her time at Penn State, Ferris actively sought out internship opportunities to maintain her stimulating schedule while on summer break. From July to August 2017, Ferris interned at Morgan Stanley in New York City as a human resources summer analyst on the diversity and inclusion team. At Morgan Stanley, Ferris created a firm-wide mentorship database to catalogue and document existing programs and highlight best practices.
Her other internships included time with Global Brands Group in New York City as a human resources intern and another summer with Daily News, LP as a human resources intern.
After graduation, Ferris will continue her career with Morgan Stanley as a member of the Morgan Stanley human resources rotational program in New York City.
“The breadth of education I received through the School of Labor and Employment Relations showed me that I can combine my interests of business, psychology and organizational behavior through a career in Human Resources,” said Ferris. “I have been able to take a variety of classes from international HR management, to staffing and training, to work attitudes and motivation. Furthermore, my work with my thesis adviser, professor Sarah Damaske, helped me determine whether to pursue graduate school or working in HR after graduation. Sarah's guidance, along with the time I spent researching my thesis solidified my desire to work for a few years before pursuing an MBA.”
This is the fifth in a series of stories on the 22 student marshals representing the College of the Liberal Arts at the spring 2018 commencement ceremony.