McNair Scholars Program
The McNair Scholars Program is a comprehensive program structured to prepare undergraduates for success as graduate students, professors, and professional researchers. This preparation is offered in the form of classes, colloquia, advising, tutoring, faculty mentoring, and the completion of a summer research internship. Participants may be students of any academic discipline but must demonstrate strong academic achievement and potential and be from socio-economic groups that are underrepresented in higher education. Program staff work closely with participants as they complete their undergraduate degrees and prepare for graduate studies.
Most students begin the program as sophomores or juniors and participate actively for two years. Program activities include academic planning, research experience, writing development, standardized entrance test preparation, cultural and educational enrichment, professional development, career planning, and graduate and scholarship application assistance. Participants also have the opportunity to present their research at professional conferences and make campus visits to prospective graduate programs.
Upon entering the program, McNair Scholars complete a colloquium on research and graduate education to prepare for their summer research. They continue to develop relationships with supportive faculty members while attending weekly seminars on subjects pertaining to the process of applying to graduate school, succeeding in graduate school, career exploration, and becoming a more informed member of the university community. In the summer before their final year of program participation, McNair Scholars typically undertake an 8-week summer research internship with the guidance of a K-State faculty mentor. During that time, scholars also take a course of preparation for the Graduate Records Examination (GRE), which is the standardized test required for admission to most graduate programs. Upon completion of their research, scholars write a report, an article, and an abstract for their mentors' approval and submission to the McNair Scholars Program. Scholars are then encouraged to seek publication and to present their papers at regional and national conferences.
The McNair Scholars program addresses the diversity, recruitment, and education requirements of broader impacts and has a well-established recruitment network. McNair Scholars can be tied into a faculty member's grant proposal by including funding in your budget for fellowships to support one or more McNair participants for two to three years. You and/or other members of your research team would also agree to be a faculty mentor helping a McNair participant find a summer research project that both addresses an aspect of your proposed research and fits into the student's interest area. The contact for this program is Kathleen Greene, program director, at kgreene@ksu.edu or 785-532-6137.
