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������ý���� is one of five New Jersey institutions of higher education to receive federal funding this year that sponsors the Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program, a program that prepares students from underrepresented backgrounds for the pursuit of doctoral studies.

Included in a set of federally funded college and pre-college programs known as TRIO, the Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program (McNair Program) is aimed to motivate and support students and increase the attainment of doctoral degrees by students from underrepresented segments of society.

“The McNair Program is the only concentrated vehicle dedicated to preparing and enrolling ������ý���� students into graduate school,” says Angélica Benítez, associate director of the Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program at ������ý����. “In particular, it ensures that academically-talented, first-generation, income-eligible and underrepresented students complete their bachelor’s degree and progress into post-baccalaureate programs. As result, it helps diversify the educational and professional pipeline, primarily in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics).”

With the newly awarded funding, ������ý���� will provide annual services to 27 McNair-eligible students, 80 percent of whom will be in STEM disciplines.

The federal funding for the McNair program covers a five-year period, amounting to more than $1.1 million in total. Since 2007, ������ý���� has been selected each year to receive funding. More than half of students who have participated in the program have gone on to enroll in post-baccalaureate programs. Four McNair scholars have obtained a doctorate and 20 others are in the “doctoral pipeline.”

Recently, the McNair Program has come full circle for one student. Kimyata Valere ’10, Ph.D., was nominated for ������ý����’s McNair Program by one of her professors. The scholarship covered her tuition costs during her junior and senior years at ������ý����. After graduating from ������ý����, she went on to complete her graduate studies at Rutgers University. Valere is now an instructor for two sections of BIO115-Lab at ������ý����.

A key component of the McNair Program is the faculty guidance and research training that McNair scholars receive. Eligible students receive graduate enrollment preparation, mentoring, STEM supplemental instruction, information literacy/computer research skills, financial literacy, preparation for doctoral study, in-depth research opportunities and more.

“Through the McNair program, I received GRE (Graduate Record Examination) prep and research opportunities needed to become a competitive Ph.D. applicant," Valere says. "Working with professors in the lab at ������ý���� allowed me to develop a comfort level and confidence that I have benefitted from throughout grad school."

To prepare McNair students to pursue graduate degrees, each student receives a research training grant of $2,800 and funding for research presentation travel, conference attendance and graduate school visits.

"With the support and guidance of the McNair staff, I was accepted into the Interdisciplinary Biomedical Science Ph.D. program at Rutgers University (formerly known as the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey)," Valere says. "Without McNair, I would not have been given the information and resources needed to successfully pursue my doctorate degree immediately after receiving my Bachelor of Science degree.”