Underrepresented, low-income and first-generation students interested in doctoral programs now have somewhere to turn for help.

The Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program prepares high-needs juniors and seniors for graduate education through academic and summer workshops, seminars, lectures and research.

The Ronald E. McNair Program was first established in 1989 on a national level. Sacramento State received its first McNair Scholars Program grant in 1999.

Two scholars were a part of Sac State’s 2009-10 McNair cohort: Vanessa Esquivido and Megan Maas.

“I am a first-generation college student, therefore I had no one to ask about grad school nor did I have the knowledge about the application process to a doctoral program,”

Esquivido said. “I had the honor to be a part of the McNair scholarship program in 2010 and graduated from Sac State this year with a degree in anthropology and ethnic studies.”

The McNair Scholars Program is a two-year program and 24 students are selected each year. Students must have completed at least 60 units prior to beginning the summer research portion, be enrolled at Sac State full time in undergraduate studies, have a Sac State grade point average of 2.8 or better and be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident.

“This program is about overcoming the odds and is like a bridge from one level of education to the next. I definitely plan on trying to get into it,” said first-generation student Allison Feeley, junior psychology major.

The McNair Scholars Program provides opportunities for research, summer internships, summer travel to seminars and other educational activities, tutoring, academic counseling, services designed to improve financial and economic literacy, faculty mentoring and exposure to cultural events and academic programs not usually available to disadvantaged students.

“The academic component includes attending a seminar course in which the scholars will be provided assistance with selecting, applying and financing graduate studies, taking the GRE and other graduate admission exams, career opportunities, writing the statement of purpose and other topics related to graduate education,” said Lova Harris, McNair Scholars Program administrative coordinator.

The McNair Scholars Program provides a $2,800 stipend and a $500 travel stipend for the required summer research portion in order to be published in its literary journal.

“The McNair scholarship program funded the students in the program to present our research at conferences during the summer where we refined our public speaking skills,”

Esquivido said. “The McNair program helped me through it all and in the spring semester I worked closely with Dr. (Annette) Reed and Dr. (Michele) Foss-Snowden to produce original research.”

McNair scholars are working on articles that include “Web Gangsters: Juvenile Expression of Aggression on Social Networking Sites” and “Creating the Bridge Between Athletics and Academics,” that can be found in the University Library.

“The journal article is the written culmination of the research each student has conducted,” Harris said.

There are now 11 volumes of the journals available, all produced by Sac State students as part of the graduate school preparation program.

“In addition, the scholars will be encouraged to participate in statewide and national conferences to present their research findings,” Harris said.

Each participant gets to work with a mentor on his or her own doctoral path, getting the information needed to be able to get into their school of choice. Some schools have extra financial aid available for McNair students.

“I am honored to have been a part of the McNair scholarship program,” Esquivido said. “This program changed my life for the better, the experience that came with it was amazing, and through their support and leadership I was accepted into the Native American Studies doctoral program at UC Davis.”

Ivy McDonald can be reached at [email protected]