McNair Program Seeks First Generation/Low Income Students

The Ronald E. McNair Post baccalaureate Achievement Program, also known as the McNair Scholars Program, is seeking its third group of students who might otherwise not have the motivation or means to pursue graduate studies. Application deadline is April 22.

The program was established by the U.S. Department of Education in 1989 in honor of astronaut Ronald E. McNair. It is designed to provide talented first-generation college students from low income families and students from populations under-represented in graduate education with effective preparation for doctoral study.

The McNair program at Sam Houston State University, which was established in November 2003, encourages graduate studies by providing opportunities for undergraduates to define their goals, engage in research, and develop the skills and faculty mentor relationships that are critical to success at the doctoral level.

"Each year, the McNair Program sponsors 11 juniors and/or seniors and outfits them with everything they need to become more competitive applicants for a graduate degree," said Lydia Fox, SHSU's McNair Program director.

The McNair Program offers several benefits, including a $1600 research stipend for completing a research project with the collaboration of a faculty mentor, paid travel to conferences and graduate programs of interest, a tuition free McNair research class, use of a laptop for the duration of the research project, free GRE and GMAT prep courses, graduate school application fee waivers, personal academic and career counseling, among other things.

"One of the unique aspects of the McNair Program is the opportunity to conduct a research study with a faculty member and to develop a mentoring relationship with that person," said Fox.

Following the conclusion of the project, each scholar is required to present their research at a McNair conference, at a national or regional conference in their discipline, or at the McNair Annual Research Symposium to be held in Summer 2006.

As part of the program, scholars are also involved in a series of workshops that prepares them for the graduate school application process and for graduate studies, in general. The workshops center around filling out graduate applications, creating résumés or vitas, computer skills, statistics skills, time management, stress managements, study skills, and others.

Applicants must be either a first-generation and low income student or a member of an underrepresented minority group (Hispanic, African-American, Native American, Native Alaskan). All applicants must be U.S. citizens or permanent U.S. resident, at least a junior at SHSU, and have a 3.0 or above grade point average at SHSU.

Interested students can contact the McNair office by phone at 936.294.3279, by email at mcnair@shsu.edu or visit their website: http://www.shsu.edu/~mcnair.

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SHSU Media Contact: Frank Krystyniak
April 8, 2005
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