The University of Southern Mississippi announced its membership in the University Industry Demonstration Partnership, a national organization designed to build solid working relationships between universities and companies.

“It was born out of trying to establish better relationships from organization to organization,” said Chase Kasper, director of the office of technology development. “It’s a wonderful organization filled with a lot of company names that just about everybody knows.”

Companies that currently have memberships with UIDP include Hershey’s and General Electric. Southern Miss has now joined other higher education schools like Harvard, Cornell and Georgia Tech that are also members of UIDP.

Kasper was previously involved with UIDP. He said one of the main reasons for USM’s decision to become a member of UIDP was to expand the school’s relationships with other members of the organization. He said the new membership also increases the university’s research capabilities.

Being a part of UIDP will allow the university to conduct more industry-funded research and give graduate students the opportunity to get hired by companies they might not otherwise get the chance to work with.

According to a press release, this membership will not only have an impact on the university, but each student as well. Each student involved with a university that is connected to potential employers will have better chances of becoming successful throughout his or her academic and professional career.

The press release also said involvement with this organization will have a positive effect on the future of USM. Not only will the membership offer the university chances to expand relationships with well-known businesses, but it will also make the school a better educational experience for every student.

According to USM’s website, other perks of joining UIDP include: access to UIDP’s Researcher Guidebook, meetings that promote and assist networking and collaborating on ideas, working in groups that focus on different varieties of meaningful research and access to the Partnership Webinar Series, where members can meet via the internet to discuss ideas and hold meetings.

Kasper said UIDP is generally a great way for students to enhance his or her chances of being successful academically and professionally.

“It will offer us the opportunity to explore a wide variety of programs both inside and outside the research enterprise,” Kasper said. “This will broaden and expand the university’s horizons and allow USM to be the best university that it can be.”

For more information on the membership, visit www.usm.edu/technology-development.