McNair Scholars Program Specifics

McNair Scholars Commit To

• successful completion of the 1-year McNair Undergraduate Research Project 
• submiting a complete Research project (20-30 pages)
• participating in 3 consecutive semesters of research (Spring, Summer, Fall)
• actively participating in McNair monthly programming
• attending bi-weekly meetings with McNair staff
• applying to a minimum of 6-8 graduate programs (minimum of 2 PhD programs)
• developing a professional relationship with Faculty Mentor 

McNair Staff Commit To

• supporting scholars through their McNair Undergraduate Research Experience 
• support scholars in identifying research presentation opportunities
• individualized coaching for academic, research and graduate school process 
• providing professional development opportunity 
• funding to attend graduate school visits, application fee waivers, GRE fee wavier
• a national community of McNair scholars, faculty, and staff invested in student success

Phase 1 - Research Proposal Writing

January–May, 5 hours weekly

Scholars will develop research proposal under the supervision of your Faculty Mentor, as well as begin graduate school application process

Phase 2 - Data Collection

June–August, 10–20 hours weekly

Scholars will participate in the McNair Summer Internship Program and begin the data collection process, attend math and verbal course as well as prepare for graduate school applications

Phase 3 - Final Write up/Conclusion

September–December, 2–5 hours weekly 

Scholars will analyze collected data and provide final write up discussing your finding. Scholars will apply to graduate school programs and present research at local and national conferences. 

Please Note: Scholars can earn up to $2800 after completing all three phases

Contact Margarida Da Graça, Project Director, for more information.

Our faculty mentors are the cornerstone to the success of the McNair Program and its scholars. Scholars will work closely with a faculty mentor to develop and enhance their research, academic, and professional skills in their preparation for graduate coursework. Scholars have the opportunity to identify a faculty mentor for their research, or McNair staff assist students in locating a faculty mentor.  

Faculty Mentors Commit To

• guiding McNair scholars in the planning, designing and execution of a scholarly undergraduate research project
• providing mentorship and individualized support to scholar(s) during the academic year (once a week) and Summer Research Internship (twice a week) to ensure the scholar is meeting the research project timeline
• supervising and approval all aspects of the McNair Undergraduate Research Project (Phase 1-3) Communicating with McNair staff on scholar research progress 
• communicating with McNair staff on scholar research progress 
• discussing career/educational goals assist scholars in the graduate school application process 
• attendance at McNair Monthly Meetings: To support your scholar, we hope to that you will attend at least one McNair Monthly Meeting during the academic year

Time & Effort Reporting 

Faculty mentors are required to submit a time and effort report monthly for each McNair scholar detailing progress on the Undergraduate Research Project based on the U.S. Department of Education grant protocol 

Faculty Mentors must certify scholar has successful completed tasks associated with each phase in order for scholars to be compensated appropriately. Once phase is accepted and approved, the faculty mentor submits approved documentation to McNair Project Director to process and disburse stipend.

Compensation

Faculty mentors will generally receive one-credit load hour during the academic year for mentoring a McNair scholar, pending approval from the appropriate Dean or Department Chair. For the Summer, faculty are compensated for their time. 

The McNair program serves students from all majors, so we recognize that our guidelines are a general outline. Please know that the McNair program will rely on your discipline-specific expertise to best define and supervise the research proposal process for your scholar. 

Phase I - Project Development & Research Proposal (Spring)

• faculty mentor will assist scholar in identifying preliminary readings and relevant research
• faculty mentor will assist scholar in formulating or further defining their research questions
• faculty mentor will support scholar in developing research and information literacy 
• faculty mentor will ensure scholar has adequate sources for literature review
• faculty mentor will determine if project requires IRB approval 
• faculty mentor will approve final research proposal prior to scholar stipend disbursement

Research Proposal 

• problem statement/ rationale
• literature review
• project design/ research methods
• research question
• anticipated outcome and implications 
• project timeline (TBD by faculty & scholar)
• potential research material 

Phase II - Data Collection & Graduate School Preparation (Summer)

• faculty mentor will determine data collection timeline for Undergraduate Research Project 
• faculty mentor will support scholar through 8-week summer research project meeting twice a week 
• faculty mentor will supervise and guide scholar through data collection methods, data storage and analysis
• faculty mentors will approve data collection completion prior to stipend payment 

Summer Internship Experience 

• program runs from June–August 
• scholars conduct data collection
• scholars attend Quantitative Analysis course 
• scholars attend GRE preparation course 
• scholars meet with faculty mentor weekly for 1.5 hours
• scholars meet with McNair Staff bi-weekly 
• scholars attend tutoring session in math and writing 
• scholars begin the graduate school application preparation

Phase III - Final Results/Write Up (Fall) 

• faculty mentor will approve and provide feedback on preliminary findings 
• faculty mentor will determine format for the research findings final results 
• faculty mentor will approve research findings final results (8- 10 pages) 
• faculty mentor will approve completed McNair research project 
• faculty mentor will assist with development and final poster design
• faculty mentor will assist scholar in identifying conferences to present research
• faculty mentor will approve final complete paper (Phase 1-3) 

Professional Development 

• faculty mentor & scholar will identify publications and conference opportunities to present research 
• scholar will submit completed paper with faculty approval to Project Director to be bound for McNair Library 
• scholar will apply to graduate school programs