The Consumer, Apparel, and Retail Studies Department (CARS) is excited to welcome a new student organization, The National Retail Federation Student Association (NRFSA) to our department! The NRFSA is an organization that provides interaction with industry professionals for the purpose of education, recruitment, and overall professional development. NRFSA supports opportunities provided by the National Retail Federation and the NRF Foundation for students enrolled at UNCG.
When Mariah Taylor-Judd, a junior in CARS, was asked to be the NRF Student Ambassador at UNC Greensboro, she knew that she wanted to create change and provide students the opportunity to grow in professional development and networking. Mariah noticed that other universities had NRFSA chapters for students and thought, “Why not UNCG?” She reached out to CARS faculty member Anne Wood for support and they began the process of creating the organization, which was fully established in August 2020. This student organization is open to any student in CARS and the Bryan School of Business and reflects the wide scope of roles that one can take within the retail industry.
As UNCG’s Student Ambassador, and the President of its NRFSA, Mariah began working closely with Annalea Soudry-Maurer, the NRF coordinator, and Ms. Wood on all events and opportunities related to NRF such as Virtual Career Fairs, Mentorship Programs, and Scholarship opportunities like the Next Generation Challenge and the Rising Star Scholarship. At monthly virtual meetings, students get the opportunity to hear from guest speakers in the industry and network with recruiters from all over the country to learn about various corporate internships or full-time opportunities. So far, the organization has plans for speakers from companies such as PetSmart, Qurate Retail Group, Kohl’s, Gap Inc., Belk, and many more. Meetings are also how members stay up to date on opportunities offered by NRF Foundation such as upcoming conferences, scholarship application deadlines, and NRF All Access virtual events.
As a member of NRFSA, students get to hear firsthand advice from CEOs and recruiters that started their careers in the retail industry to open the door to a multitude of opportunities for landing a position in the retail industry post-graduation.
If you are a student in CARS or another major in the Bryan School of Business and Economics and you’re interested in joining NRFSA, register for an NRF Student membership at https://nrf.com/user/join and fill out the NRFSA New Membership form. Do you want to get a deeper look at what the NRFSA does first? You can follow them on Instagram at @uncg_nrfsa !
