HATTIESBURG — Michael Harris, a Natchez native and graduate student at the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, placed second in the inaugural Student Affairs Graduate Assistant Research and Scholarship Awards Program.

Student Affairs graduate assistants had the option of competing in one of two categories: the informal research project, including a paper describing the project findings and recommendations, or the formal research project, including all informal criteria with the addition of a poster presentation.

Harris partnered with Jeff Taylor of Gulfport, and competed in the informal category and performed research on their topic of choice — “The Perceived Effectiveness of Student Employee Training Programs and Employee Engagement.” Harris plans to graduate in August with a Master of Science in Business Administration.

“This endeavor provides graduate assistants within student affairs the opportunity to engage in meaningful scholarly investigation, as well as provide respective departments with data to meet the growing needs of the university community,” said Sid Gonsoulin, associate vice president of student affairs.