Eastern’s TRIO McNair Program Meets or Exceeds Outcome Objectives for the 2019-2020 Department of Education Annual Performance Report
Congratulations and thank you to all the EWU McNair scholars, faculty mentors, staff and other supporters who continued to work hard together throughout the challenges of 2020. Although our program went completely virtual in March 2020, our EWU scholars still benefited from faculty-mentored research experiences, workshops, seminars and other scholarly activities (Zoom meetings and conferences and other digital interactions), that allowed us to meet or exceed the objectives set out in the Eastern McNair grant proposal. We just submitted our Annual Performance Report (APR) to the Department of Education in February 2021 (highlights below), which shows that EWU McNair continues its ongoing success. This is accomplished through a carefully designed Plan of Operation informed by research, best practices, and years of successfully preparing first-generation, low-income and/or underrepresented scholars to succeed in doctoral programs. And we try to make it fun!
On this page, you will see numbers that quantify our program’s success, but more importantly, you will have a chance to celebrate our scholars and their remarkable accomplishments over the last year. We’re in challenging times, and yet we still have so much to celebrate!
Clicking on an icon or “Read More” link in any of the slideshows allows you to navigate to the students’ individual pages where you can read more about their research and plans for graduate school.
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EWU McNair alum Dr. Laura Zamudio earns PhD; Serving as Winter/Spring 2020 Eastern McNair Interim Academic Advisor before joining Heritage University as an Assistant Professor of Math and McNair Program Coordinator
Dr. Laura Zamudio is an Eastern Washington University TRIO McNair alum who earned her bachelor’s degree from Eastern with a major in math education and a minor in Spanish. As an EWU McNair Scholar research intern, she completed two McNair research projects in math education with Dr. Gayle Milsaps in the summers of 2014 and…
2020 Eastern McNair Scholar
Graduate School Acceptances
EWU McNair Program Logic Model
Objective Targets and Percentages Achieved
The Logic Model above was created as an overview of the Plan of Operation that was submitted in the last Department of Education TRIO McNair grant competition. Eastern’s McNair Director, Dr. Christina Torres García, is uniquely qualified to guide this plan, as she brings a valuable leadership and experience to supporting students through the many stages of the program. Coming from a Mexican farm-working background, and holding a PhD in Cultural Studies and Social Thought in Education as well as an MBA, Dr. Torres García is a first-generation college graduate, and the first person in her family to attend graduate school. She is a walking testimony that McNair programs do work since she is a McNair scholar alumna from EWU. Her lived experiences along with her formal training in equitable education give her skills to rethink existing structures and organizations. In imagining how to assist scholars navigate “what is,” she is also able to define what might be changed to better serve all students, and to create a plan to involve McNair scholars in this change.
To carry out, assess and improve the year-round program services, Dr. Torres García works closely with the McNair program Assistant Director, Cynthia Dukich, MFA, who has been with EWU McNair for more than twenty years. Assisting in all areas of the program, she has focused writing and editing skills she gained in her creative writing background to improving students’ writing skills and confidence. This last year, she was assisted in this by Interim Academic Advisor Dr. Laura Zamudio (see story at left) and Graduate Student Assistant Cori Jaeger.
The McNair staff together, with outstanding groups of students, faculty, staff and others continues to show that education can indeed transform lives!
Below is a summary of Eastern’s 2019-2020 Department of Education Annual Performance Report (submitted February 2021) that shows the actual percentage achieved with the approved target number in parentheses.
Statistics of 2020 Annual Performance Report!
- Percent of Current Scholars Engaging in Research and Scholarly Activities: 100% (Target 85%)
- Percent of New Scholars Majoring in STEM: 30% (Target 30%)
- Enrollment in Graduate School in Fall after EWU Graduation: 73% (Target 60%)
- Continued Enrollment in Graduate School: 83% (Target 70%)
- PhD Attainment within Ten Years of EWU Graduation: 31% (Target 10%)
McNair Scholars Earning Eastern Bachelor’s Degrees in 2020!
(Click on names or “Read More” above to go to graduating scholars’ individual pages where you can learn more about their McNair research projects, faculty research mentors and graduate school plans)
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EWU McNair Assistant Director Joins TRIO McNair Professionals from Across the Nation to Share Best Practices at the 6th Annual McNair Promising Practices Institute (MPPI)
At the beginning of February 2020, the EWU McNair program’s Assistant Director, Cynthia Dukich, joined over 150 people representing 89 McNair Scholars programs from around the country as they came together at the 6th Annual McNair Promising Practices Institute (MPPI) at the University of Central Florida to learn and share about the most innovative practices…
Our Dedicated McNair Faculty Research Mentors are
Key to EWU McNair’s Continued Success
Our McNair faculty mentors are the core of the program, as they are the primary guide in research and design, assisting students with graduate programs within specific fields, and introducing scholars to faculty members in graduate programs.
The carefully monitored process of matching McNair scholars with faculty research mentors starts when the student is accepted into the program. The Director, Dr. Torres Garcia gives each participant assistance in identifying supportive and appropriate mentors and in initiating professional connections. The participant’s involvement begins in the pre-application process with the requirement to interview three faculty members. Information from the interviews provides a starting point for the Director to discuss with the new participant the potential faculty mentors in the major field of study. Following the discussions with participants, the Director talks with the department chair and the potential faculty mentor before determining a match.
2018-2019 faculty research mentors
2019-2020 McNair Faculty Mentors
New McNair Scholars Selected Spring 2020 and Continuing Scholars
Awards, Presentations
and Conferences
(Click on photo for more information.)
Summer Seminar Series
In addition to conducting faculty-mentored research projects during the summer, all McNair Research Interns participate in workshops, seminars and other scholarly activities held throughout the week. This year, with everything virtual, we were able to have EWU alumni from around the country give Zoom workshops, seminars and presentations. Click on the photo for more information.
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Representation Matters: McNair Chemistry Research Intern Aulane Mpouli
Aulane Mpouli understands from experience why representation matters in STEM fields. As an EWU McNair Scholar and Chemistry and Biochemistry major, Aulane is currently applying to chemistry PhD programs with the goal of conducting bench to bedside translational cancer research. Interested in mechanisms to evaluate protein-ligand interactions, as well as chemical biology, and enzyme dynamics…
