Isabella Alvarez, a senior human resource management major, was recognized at the 28th annual American Society of Business and Behavioral Sciences (ASBBS) Conference, winning “Best Student Paper” for her essay entry.

“This essay and the competition as a whole embodied everything I love about my major,” said Alvarez. “My essay was a compilation of ethics, safety and legislation pertaining to COVID-19, as I provided a recommended Coronavirus safety policy that could be utilized by any organization.”

Alvarez said she began learning about legislation through some of her human resource classes, where she developed a passion for legislation, ethics and safety under Dr. Henry Findley, the Senior Associate Dean for Administration in the Sorrell College of Business and one of Alvarez’s professors.

“When I started my internship, I knew there would be a paper and hoped I would get to write on these topics,” she said. “So, when Dr. Findley assigned me a paper regarding safety and how it has changed in light of COVID-19, I was determined to write the best paper I had ever written.”

Alvarez said she had heard of Dr. Findley entering student essays into the ASBBS conference before and was determined to get hers featured as well, though she knew the honor of being presented to the conference would not come easy.

She worked closely with Dr. Findley to complete thorough research to develop her “recommended virus policy” that could be used by almost any organization.

“I formatted it in a way in which organizations can add or take away what they need to cater it toward their specific field,” said Alvarez. “I backed up my policy with thorough research and even discussed court cases that came about from safety issues regarding COVID-19.

“I concluded the paper with my own recommendations of how best to solve and prevent safety/ethics issues in the organization as well as how to manage the uncertainty brought on by the virus itself.”

Alvarez virtually presented her essay to a panel of HR professionals, as well as other students in the competition. 

Upon winning the “Best Student Paper” title, Alvarez reflected on how proud she was of her hard work, and knew that even if she had not won, the experience was a win for her.

“I know that what I learned throughout the many months of research for this essay will help me in my HR career and be a proud legacy of Troy University’s Sorrell College of Business,” said Alvarez. “Again, thank you to all the Sorrell College of Business faculty and staff, especially my advisor, Dr. Hank Finley, for your constant support and guidance.”