Rutgers University–Newark (RU-N) has received a $232,265 annual grant award for the next five years from the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) to implement the Ronald E. McNair Post-baccalaureate Achievement program. Named after Ronald McNair, an astronaut who died during the Space Shuttle Challenger Mission, the primary goals of the McNair program are to increase the attainment of doctoral degrees by students from underrepresented segments of society and encourage pursuit of careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Institutions that receive a McNair grant award will work closely with eligible participants as they complete their undergraduate requirements and then track their progress through to the successful completion of advanced degrees.
The McNair program is one of eight TRIO programs funded by the DOE, the purpose of which is to identify and provide services to disadvantaged and underrepresented individuals. Upward Bound is a well-known TRIO program also offered at RU-N, which provides low-income students with resources and aid to prepare and apply for college. Like Upward Bound, the McNair program at RU-N will be administered through the Academic Foundations Center (AFC). Upward Bound and now the McNair program are two of many other programs within a wider portfolio of initiatives at RU-N that help to create pathways to higher education for first-generation students. Such other initiatives include the RU-N Talent and Opportunity Pathways program (also known as RU-N to the TOP), the Honors Living-Learning Community (HLLC), the Educational Opportunity Fund (EOF) program, and the Newark City of Learning Collaborative (NCLC).
“This is a great opportunity for our students,” commented Deborah Walker McCall, associate dean for academic affairs of AFC and the director of the EOF program. “Our students will work with faculty on research projects, present at conferences, and prepare for the Graduate Record Examination. This type of support is invaluable and will be instrumental to their ultimate success at the post-baccalaureate level.”
Specifically, AFC will play a critical role in guiding early preparation for post-baccalaureate education by fostering academic preparation and achievement, involvement in research and scholarly activities, graduate school and career seminars, faculty and alumni mentorship, tutoring and academic counseling, and financial and economic literacy.
Walker McCall credits the efforts of grant writer Suja Patel for securing the grant, along with the support of administrators, faculty, and staff of other RU-N offices and units.
To help build the pipeline for future members of the academy, AFC will collaborate with faculty and staff of all the schools and colleges at RU-N as well as appropriate administrators of HLLC, RU-N’s Honors College, the Garden State Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation program, the Office of University-Community Partnerships, NCLC, and other community partners and anchor institutions in Newark.
The McNair program will form its first cohort of approximately 25 students in spring 2018.
