Eastern Michigan University has joined a federal program under the best of circumstances: a perfect score on its grant application and an abundance of students targeted for service. By receiving the $1.1 million, five-year McNair grant, EMU joins about 175 other institutions nationally trying to get more low-income and first-generation college students to think about and succeed in earning the ultimate degree: a doctorate. In its 159-year history, EMU has traditionally served that population well. At the time of its application, EMU had more than 5,000 students from the targeted populations already on campus and nearly 500 meeting all of the program’s eligibility criteria.

“It’s very clear that students who are first generation, from a low-income background or from underrepresented groups don’t really know how to go about applying for a doctorate,” said Professor James Knapp, director of EMU’s Honors College, which applied for the grant on behalf of the University. “A lot of the barriers are simply practical. But by putting a faculty mentor with that person and involving them together in undergraduate research and graduate school preparation activities, such as how to apply and study for entrance exams, more students will likely pursue those degrees.”

According to 2006 undergraduate data from EMU’s Office of Financial Aid, 17 percent of EMU students met low-income eligibility criteria; 7 percent were from a low-income and first-generation household; and 19 percent were from underrepresented groups. In all, 26 percent (5,184 students) were McNair-eligible. Further, EMU has a large pre-college population in southeast Michigan that fits the McNair target population criteria.

Thirty-five students will be involved in EMU’s McNair Scholars Program at any time. Most will enter early in their junior years. The first pool of applicants is being reviewed. Betty Brown-Chappell, a professor in the School of Social Work, was recently named the McNair Scholars Program’s first director.

Research has shown that students from low-income households where parents do not hold a college degree are less likely to pursue graduate degrees; even fewer pursue doctoral, or terminal, degrees.

EMU’s application played up natural strengths. Not only is the targeted population abundant across campus, but so is an emphasis on the undergraduate experience and research. Most notable among those opportunities is the Undergraduate Symposium, where students and faculty collaborate on research. Lastly, the Honors College, in its 26-year history, has developed extensive faculty mentoring and class-by-class research components. Those attributes and programs made EMU a natural selection as a McNair recipient.

“Basically, what we were saying in the application and to the program review judges, was can you fund us and help us do these things even more?” said Heather Holmes (’94), an associate professor of chemistry and a member of EMU’s grant-writing team.

Another key author was Gary Hannan, a professor of biology who started teaching at EMU in 1982. For the past two years, he has been a faculty associate in the Honors College. He has served as a faculty mentor for Honors’ students throughout his EMU tenure. And like many of the students he teaches, he is a first-generation college student.

“Eastern is a perfect fit for this program,” Professor Hannan said. “By seeking McNair funding, we are not only highlighting the diversity of our student population but helping those students earn doctoral degrees.”

That message resonates with Professor Holmes for other reasons.

“I can put myself in students’ shoes very easily, because I was in their shoes,” said Professor Holmes, who graduated from EMU in 1994 from the Honors College. “The chemistry department then was close-knit and really cared. It still is close-knit and caring.”

While she isn’t herself a first-generation college student, she teaches and mentors many who are. Part of her responsibility is to open students’ eyes to their full academic potential. “Had it not been for the relationships I developed as an EMU undergraduate, I wouldn’t have gotten as far as I have. My professors saw qualities in me that I didn’t, and were able to push that out,” she said.

Her role in the grant application process was to develop the section on students’ research experiences. The work culminated with the creation of the Summer Research Institute, a 10-week intensive experience between the junior and senior years.

“So many students want to do the research, but they need to go off during the summer and get a job,” she said. The institute will cover costs related to the research as well as provide a stipend.

The program’s heavy mentoring and research features made the Honors College a natural home for it.

“The reason we wanted it in Honors is that we already have faculty working with undergraduates on Honors Undergraduate Fellowships, which are opportunities for Honors’ students to do a project,” Professor Knapp said. “Most of the students who receive the fellowships end up presenting at the Symposium, but there’s no requirement. The Symposium is the other piece that works well with McNair. It means we can bring in this different population that we’re not targeting and plug them into this existing and well-established undergraduate research infrastructure.”

EMU established its Undergraduate Symposium in 1981 to provide a showcase for collaborative scholarly work. The last Symposium involved 212 undergraduates who gave 194 presentations sponsored by 130 faculty.
In addition to participating in all the mentoring and research opportunities already available on campus, students chosen also participate in structured workshops, seminars and support systems designed to meet their specific needs. This intensive approach to better understanding research – forming hypotheses, testing, reporting results and publishing – forms the backbone of the program.

EMU isn’t the first college in Michigan to receive a McNair grant. Other recipients include Central Michigan, Grand Valley State, Michigan State, Siena Heights and Wayne State universities. But EMU was granted membership on its first try. Its grant proposal was so strong that reviewers working for the federal Department of Education scored it a perfect 100. The score enables EMU to receive funding for five years instead of the normal four.

The $1.1 million will pay for needed personnel – a director, assistant director and secretary – to run the program. But more importantly, the money covers added costs for research and stipends. The U.S. Department of Education is providing $220,000 each year for five years; EMU has pledged $96,000 per year.

The University hasn’t had much time to celebrate. As soon as word was received in October, it needed to immediately begin the search for a director and prospective students. Thirty-five students will be accepted this year; participants will range from sophomores to seniors. Ten to 15 additional students will be accepted in subsequent years to replace those graduating.

To be eligible, students must have a 3.0 GPA and be from a low-income household where neither parent has a college degree. (According to the Office of Postsecondary Education in the U.S. Department of Education, the low-income level for a family of four is $30,975.) But the program also accepts applicants with 3.0 GPAs who are from an underrepresented racial group, regardless of family income or parents’ education levels. But at least two-thirds of students in EMU’s program must meet the first-generation and low-income criteria.

The federal program is named for Ronald E. McNair, an astronaut who died during the 1986 Shuttle Challenger explosion, and who himself came from such a background (see related story, left). The first McNair grantees were funded in 1989; grant competitions are conducted every four years. Program funding increased from $38.4 million in 2002-03 to $42.1 million in 2004-05.
EMU McNair Scholars receive a $2,800 stipend for research, financial aid to conduct further research, travel expenses for presenting results at professional meetings and visiting prospective graduate schools, graduate tuition waiver options at participating graduate schools (including EMU), a faculty research mentor, and help through how-to seminars on presenting research, preparing graduate school applications and obtaining funding for graduate studies.

EMU expects to graduate 50 percent of its scholars within three years. It further expects that 50 percent of those graduates will enroll in graduate school within a year of graduation and that 20 percent will obtain a doctoral degree within 10 years. Sarah Huyvaert, a professor in the Department of Teacher Education, will evaluate the University’s performance in meeting its program goals.

It will take years for EMU’s first McNair Scholars to graduate from a doctoral program. But the University expects to see some payoffs immediately. “One intangible way to measure success will be in the enthusiasm exuded by the students themselves,” Professor Holmes said. “When an experience has been worthwhile, we can see it in their eyes and hear it in their voices.”