A group of eight Wayne State students from the Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program, commonly known as the McNair Scholars Program, will visit the University of Maryland, College Park, for the 21st annual University of Maryland National Conference for McNair Scholars and Undergraduate Research March 12–15.

Conference participation is part of the annual plan to expose McNair Scholars to graduate school opportunities through professional development in areas of mentored research and application preparation. Students will be accompanied by McNair Program Director Bianca Suarez, Ph.D.

Four senior McNair Scholars will present their research at the annual conference. These students have spent the past academic year conducting research under the mentorship of Wayne State University faculty. Presenting students are Michelle Gardner, Ashley Garcia, Alice Santana and Rachel Bruinsma.

Students will have an opportunity to meet prospective faculty mentors at the University of Maryland, attend graduate school preparation workshops, participate in a graduate school recruitment fair and visit Washington D.C. One senior McNair Scholar has already been accepted to the University of Maryland’s American Studies doctoral program.

The McNair Scholars Program is a federally funded initiative designed to prepare the next generation of researchers for doctoral study in many of the nation’s top research universities. The program provides effective preparation for doctoral study to low-income and first-generation college students and students from groups underrepresented in graduate education to empower them to be successful.