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The Ronald McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
The Ronald McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement
Program provides undergraduate students with the opportunity to explore
university teaching and research, while they prepare for future graduate
school enrollment.
Named after Ronald McNair, one of the first African American astronauts, the program
is designed to increase the number of students in doctoral degree programs who are low-income and
first generation undergraduates or from groups traditionally underrepresented in graduate education,
particularly African Americans, Latino Americans, and Native Americans/Alaska Natives.
The McNair program is funded by a grant from the United States Department of Education.
The program is housed in the Russell Conwell Educational Services Center division of
Student Affairs, with support from the Office of the Vice Provost for
Undergraduate Studies.
PROGRAM ELIGIBILITY
The program seeks undergraduate students who aspire to obtain doctoral degrees in their
chosen field. Qualified students must have a grade point average of at least 2.7 overall or 3.0 within
their last semester prior to applying to the program.
Students must also demonstrate a strong desire to learn about teaching and research and complete a
program application by December 1. Applications to the program submitted
after December 1 will be considered on a rolling basis.
Each year the program admits 10 sophomores (students having completed at
least 24 semester hours) and two to four juniors.
Two-thirds of McNair participants must be low-income individuals who are
first-generation college students enrolled at Temple University. One-third of participants can be
members of a group that is either underrepresented in graduate education or in a particular
academic discipline.
All participants must be U.S. citizens, permanent residents of the U.S. or its territories, or in the
U.S. for other than a temporary purpose and provide evidence from the Immigration and
Naturalization Service of the intent to become a permanent resident.
PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS
The program provides the following benefits to students:
- Individualized research projects
- Undergraduate teaching assistantships
- Training in the use of qualitative and quantitative research methods
- Faculty mentors
- Research seminars
- Graduate school application workshops
- Graduate Record Examination (GRE) preparation course
- GRE fee waiver
- Travel opportunities to academic conferences throughout the country
- Individualized academic and career counseling
- Academic Internship Program
- Free room and board while completing the research project
- $2800 stipend during junior and senior years
- Monetary assistance to visit graduate schools
- Assistance in obtaining graduate school scholarships
- National Graduate School Networking Lecture Series on research, teaching, and academia
- Computer technology training
- Future Faculty Fellowships to qualified graduates
PROGRAM COMPONENTS
Sophomores/Rising Juniors
Students enter the program during the spring semester and participate in a research seminar entitled
"Introduction to College Teaching and Research." The seminar introduces students to basic research
methodology and examines various issues related to teaching on the university level. Each student
will develop a research proposal related to their intellectual development and teaching.
During the summer, rising juniors are paired with professors from the Intellectual Heritage Program
to learn about teaching from the "inside." As teaching assistants, students will mark papers, make
presentations, develop tests, and, most importantly, explore the process of learning by critically
observing students and professors. Each student will complete a research project on
some aspect of teaching or pedagogy.
To see a list of research projects completed by past students in the
McNair Program, click here.
Juniors/Rising Seniors
In the fall, students participate in workshops to enhance their quantitative, analytical, and writing
skills, and prepare a proposal for a research project that will be completed during the following
summer. During the spring semester, juniors participate in a research seminar entitled "Advanced
Qualitative and Quantitative Research Methods."
During the summer, rising seniors will work on a research project which will be mentored by a
faculty member. Following the completion of the research project, rising seniors will participate in
the GRE Preparation Course, Graduate School Workshop, and present their research at
National and Regional level
McNair conferences.
FACULTY MENTORS
Members of the Temple University Faculty work closely with McNair scholars as Mentors. Faculty
mentors are selected from the fields McNair scholars intend to pursue on the graduate level.
If you are interested in being hired as a Faculty Mentor or would like to nominate a student for the program,
please contact the Program Director.
HOW TO APPLY
Students interested in applying to the program should attend one of the information sessions about
the program held in October and November. Individual appointments can be made with the program staff following
the conclusion of the information sessions.
Applications can be picked up from the McNair office in Vivacqua Hall (Broad St. and Cecil B.
Moore Avenue) Room 204.
For more information contact
Nathan Knispel, McNair Program Director, by phone at 204-8023,
or
e-mail