When senior Zelda Haro begins her graduate studies at the University in the fall, she will already have experience researching the native cultures she plans on studying.
Haro is one of 18 University students participating in the McNair Scholars program — a national program that prepares students for graduate school. The University program, which began in 1999, is one of over 100 on college campuses across the country.
Without the research opportunity the program provides, Haro said she would not have spent last summer interviewing people of Yaqui heritage, a Native American tribe in which she is a member. Haro used the results of that survey to study the cultural identity of native peoples.
The program provides training and opportunities for students from low-income families who are the first in their families to attend college or those who come from groups traditionally underrepresented in graduate schools, said the program’s coordinator Gail Unruh.
Next weekend, Haro will graduate with a degree in ethnic studies. And looking back on her undergraduate years, she said she appreciates the program that gave her the financial and academic support to make her research possible.
“It’s a fantastic program,” she said.
By the end of the summer, 15 students involved in the program this year– many of whom were the first to participate in the program at the University — will have graduated, Unruh said.
While Unruh said he knows of only eight students planning to attend graduate school in the fall, he still considers the program a success. Those who are not going to graduate school next year will be involved in a variety of activities, he said, and many have plans to attend in the future.
“None of the group is giving up,” he said. “It’s just a matter of when they’re going.”
One way students prepare for graduate school through the program is by attending various workshops and classes offered during the year, Unruh said. Through these classes, they can learn about graduate school and what they should do to be accepted, he said.
This advice is often helpful to first-generation college students, he said, because they may be coming into the University with less knowledge of the college system than some of their peers.
“If students don’t come from families where one or both parents attended college, then the student doesn’t necessarily know the ins and out’s of what a college experience is all about,” he said.
The McNair Scholar program also offers financial support to participants, he said, including graduate school application fee waivers, and research stipends. Some graduate programs, including the University graduate school, also offer tuition waivers that McNair Scholars can apply for.
In addition, each McNair scholar has the opportunity to participate in a summer research internship, in which they conduct original research related to their field of study. Students are provided with a stipend to cover their living expenses during the internship
For a few graduating this year, the summer research program was the highlight of their involvement with the program.
“I thought the summer experience was really great,” senior Paul Mathews said.
Mathews, who will graduate this summer with a general science degree, added that his involvement with the McNair Scholars Program reinforced his goals of attending graduate school.
“It just bolstered them,” he said.
Drew Gorman-Lewis, a senior graduating this term with a degree in general science, added that the summer internship “really gave me a glimpse into what graduate school is going to be like.”