McNair scholars holding meeting for potential new members Tuesday

• Tweet
• 

The McNair Scholarship program will be offering information on Tuesday to juniors and seniors interested in the program.

The meeting will be at 5 p.m. in the Bovee University Center Lake Michigan room.

“We’re looking for sophomores and juniors who want to get their Ph.D.,” said Jeanine Mahaffey, office assistant for the college of Graduate Studies.

Mahaffey said the meeting will be a general information meeting for students interested in becoming McNair scholars.

The McNair Scholars Program, named after Challenger astronaut Ronald E. McNair, is a federally-funded scholarship program which, aims to help underprivileged first-generation college students and students from groups which are underrepresented in graduate education to earn their Ph.D.s, according to their Web site.

“We will have a faculty mentor, Dr. Phame Camarena, talk about why students might want to consider earning a Ph.D, go over the program’s specifics and our current scholars will talk about their experiences with the program and will talk with students afterwards, as well,” said Lynn Curry, director of the McNair program.

Detroit senior Kayana Sanders is one of the 2009 McNair scholars who will be speaking at Tuesday’s meeting.

“I will be talking about my experience this summer at the Summer Research Institute, my GRE training and outings with my cohort,” she said.

Sanders advises students interested in the program to consider whether they are serious about earning their Ph.D. and prepare themselves for the work involved.

“It’s a lot of work, but it’s really rewarding. Give it 110 percent because it’s all worth it,” Saunders said.

The McNair program will also be holding their Fall Research Symposium from 1 to 4 p.m, Sept. 25 in the Charles V. Park Library auditorium where current McNair scholars will present their summer research projects.

In order to be eligible for the program, students must also be serious about earning their Ph.D., be a United States citizen or permanent resident, be a full-time student at CMU, have a 2.8 minimum cumulative grade point average and have completed at least 56 credits by the time they start their summer research experience.