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TRIO Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program

Eastern Washington University

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Celebration

Abdulrazik Mohammed Travels to DC to Attend the 7th Annual International Symposium on Women and Genocide in the 21st Century: The Case of Darfur

12/04/2018 by jlittleton1 Leave a Comment

EWU McNair Scholar Abdulrazik (Abdu) Mohammed lived in an Internally Displaced camp in the Sudan for two years as a child, then spent five years in a Kenyan refugee
camp with his family, who had been forced to flee their home due to the ongoing violent conflict in Darfur. “Life was like a prison there,” he says of the camps. “Nowhere to go, few thoughts for the future.” His life changed significantly, however, when he along with several of his family members were granted refugee status, allowing them to emigrate to the U.S. He arrived in Spokane Washington as a teenager, unable to speak English, but determined to do everything possible to make the most of his fortune and to use his opportunities to give back to others. He was enrolled in the Ferris High School English Development Program (ELD) program where he was supported by numerous Ferris ELD teachers, including EWU alumna Mandy Manning ’98, who won the 2018 National Teacher of the Year award. Mr. Mohammed rewarded the support of the Ferris ELD program, along with others at Ferris and in the Spokane community, with his focused hard work.

He awoke each morning at five so he could get to school at six to work on his English and catch up with his high school classmates. He was able to complete the requirement to graduate from Ferris in 2015, doing a freshman year at Whitworth University before transferring to EWU in fall 2016, where he chose to study international affairs. As he has moved through his coursework at Eastern, he became increasingly interested in research and the possibility of going to graduate school, so he applied for the McNair Scholar program. Selected as an EWU McNair Scholar in March 2018, he conducted a McNair Summer 2018 Internship project: The UN Response to Darfur: Aid, Security and Conflict Resolution, with faculty research mentor, Dr. Dorothy Zeisler-Vralsted, professor in political science. With her encouragement, and the support of McNair travel grant funds, Mr. Mohammed recently attended the 7thAnnual International Symposium on Women and
Genocide in the 21stCentury: The Case of Darfur 
at the Georgetown University Law Center in Washington D.C. In addition to presenting at the conference on a panel,  met with congressional representatives on Capitol Hill, and was able to meet and have conversations with faculty, researchers and professionals in many fields related to the topic.

When asked how his EWU international affairs major prepared him for this experience he stated: “Understanding global governance and how it works to solve global problems was beneficial in terms of engaging with like-minded people as well as explaining my research topic. For example, understanding how the International Criminal Court [ICC] works was important. Part of my research includes one of the most controversial criminal case the ICC worked on, the Darfur case. When I met the international persecutor who handled this case, the knowledge and the skills I gained through my EWU major helped me ask the right question and have a constructive discussion with him.”

He believes that all students should try to attend a conference: “It opens one’s mind beyond the imaginable. Whether it is academic or activism and or action-based conference, it is not possible to return without some form of knowledge that would fit your interests. You get an idea of what others are doing and what your undergrad or overall academic experience can contribute in real life. You also gain connections and opportunities that might open your doors to future.”

Always thinking about how he might make a positive difference in the world he adds: “Some of the most important outcomes of getting such an opportunity is building experiences and knowledge to learn how education can be applied to the real world to benefit others.”

Filed Under: 2017-2018 Cohort, AbdulrazikMohamed, Events, News, Political Science Tagged With: Celebration, Conference Presentation, McNair Scholar, News

Ereisa Morales’s Scholar Story

12/03/2018 by bmurray9 Leave a Comment

Ereisa Morales holds a tape recorder to illustrate her interviews with Latinx and drug use.

You might recognize Ereisa Morales from McNair’s website. You also might recognize her from posters around campus. She is holding a book about drug use, and a tape recorder, ready to document, survey, and research. What is she researching?

Morales is a McNair Scholar. She is also a part of a sorority on campus, and participates in numerous volunteer activities such as Second Harvest. She is a TA for Dr. Aguilar, who happens to be her mentor. Dr. Aguilar teaches race and culture studies, was the academic advisor for McNair last year (2017-2018), and created Transformation Tuesday, where underrepresented and marginalized voices can be expressed and heard at The Mason Jar every third Tuesday. A double major in sociology and criminal justice, Morales knows the definition of hard work and stamina. If it sounds like she does a lot, it’s because she does.

Yet, in all of the tasks, Morales comes off energetic and ready to tackle the next paper, study or discussion. The bulk of her time now is focusing on graduate school applications. That means long hours pouring over requirements, sending GRE test scores, crafting a better CV, and revising again and again her written work. The process is long, but she feels confident in her chances of getting into a prestigious university because of how important her research is, for both academia and her community in Yakima.

Dr. Edmundo Aguilar, Ereisa Morales’s mentor, is a quarterly faculty in Race and Culture Studies.

Morales’s research is about drug addiction within Latinx families and adolescents. In order to understand the why in terms of drug addiction, she had to review literature. Then she sought approval of an IRB to conduct an interview of a Latina who grew up using drugs. The interview consisted of many leading questions to allow the Latina to open up about why, how, and when addiction occurred. One such question starts off as, “How is it that you feel now if you’re still using?” These answers were then transcribed and used to formulate a thematic analysis. Morales is working on finishing up this manuscript so that she can send it to a journal for publication.

This research is important in understanding why drug addiction happens to adolescents in Latinx communities. In doing so, Morales has the opportunity to explore, find answers, and provide valuable information to better those communities across the state and country. With the help of McNair Scholar Program, the Sociology Department, and her mentor, Dr. Aguilar, her research has significant amount of support. In the near future, Morales hopes to be a professor in sociology and mentor students who have come from underrepresented background.

Filed Under: 2016-2017 Cohort, EreisaMorales, News, Scholars, Sociology and Criminal Justice Tagged With: Celebration, McNair Scholar, Mentor, News

Kianna Baker’s Scholar Story

12/03/2018 by bmurray9 Leave a Comment

Kianna Baker holds fruit which represents her research on food insecurity.

We all know that college students struggle. They struggle with classes, assignments and tests. One can remember the long hours in the library cramming over books in pools of soft light from the rows of lamps, students half asleep, mindlessly present in the real world, fully involved in the world rendered in their minds. That’s what it is like, right? That is the atmosphere at JFK library on campus here in Cheney? Or is that some Hollywood scene. Either way, students fight to stay ahead of the academic agenda. Often, though, college students struggle withmore outside the class room that can cause academic hurdles: food.

Kianna Baker, McNair Scholar, and Dr. Okera Nsombi, her McNair Mentor, have spent the summer doing their Summer Research Internship here at Eastern on food insecurity. What does that mean? It means, according to Baker’s poster, which she presented at the 6th Annual Black Doctoral Network Conference in Charlotte, North Carolina earlier this quarter, “a lack of consistent access to enough food for an active, healthy life.” While this may not seem like a surprise to fellow college students, champions of ramen and cereal with water as meals, it is surprising when Baker and Dr. Okera Nsombi delved deeper into the why. Why is it, that college students, especially Students of Color (SoC), students who receive financial aid, and students that work, face a higher percentage of food insecurity? That was the question, and after reading dozens of articles surrounding the issue, Baker proposed that there might be a link between food insecurity of college students and those who grew up in a food insecure household.

Dr. Okera Nsombi, Kianna Baker’s mentor, is an assistant professor of Africana Studies.

With the help of Dr. Okera Nsombi, who is a highly respected professor of Africana Studies and has taught numerous classes all over the country, Baker was able to produce a survey with IRB approval, to ask students about their food insecurity. She had over 300 student responses. From this survey, “36 percent of EWU students have worried about running out of food.” Not only that, but, “71 percent of EWU students know someone who does not have enough food.” This shows the extent of our community’s food insecurity.

Perhaps Baker’s biggest impact from her research is that this can become evidence that living or growing up in a household that suffers from food insecurity can predict food insecurity in college. Not to mention how this can impact the community by raising awareness about the link between food insecurity and lower GPA.

Kianna Baker poses for a photo at the 6th Annual Black Doctoral Network Conference.

 

Through the help and guidance of Dr. Okera Nsombi, McNair, Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week, EWU Office of Community Engagement and EWU Health, Wellness, & Preventive Services, Baker has truly engaged with the local community here to support her research. Her research matters for SoC, low-income students, and everyone who knows the hardships of living with the fear of where and when your next meal will come.

Filed Under: KiannaBaker, McNair Mentors, News, Scholars Tagged With: Celebration, McNair Scholar, Mentor, News

Erik Almaguer’s Scholar Story

12/03/2018 by bmurray9 Leave a Comment

Erik project 2
Erik Almaguer in his temporary office in Patterson, setting up his research project.
erik project 4
Roof shot of Erik Almaguer’s sensors.

McNair Scholar, Erik Almaguer, a computer science major in his junior year at Eastern Washington University, has been working since Spring Quarter of 2018 on his project, with the help of his mentor, Dr. Shamima Yasmin. Almaguer grew up in Kennewick, working and going to the community college there. He wasn’t too sure on what he wanted to do next. After a year or two juggling work, college, and everything else that keeps us occupied, he moved to Cheney for EWU.

Almaguer, when asked about that time of his life, said, “I came to Eastern because I wanted to try out a university. I didn’t know what to expect till I met Dr. Torres Garcia who guided me by providing different resources through the university. McNair gave me a job opportunity as a web designer.”

That was the hard part: transition. Almaguer’s entrance into the McNair program was unique, since he was working at McNair’s web designer. “Getting to meet all of the students in the McNair office, and just getting to hear their stories as they were applying to grad school; it was really inspiring. It inspired me to apply to grad school.” He felt a connection with the program, and immediately applied. He was accepted.

erik project 3
Erik Almaguer testing his live feed for his 3D interactive graphs.

Almaguer’s research project is about harnessing WebGL to create live 3D graphs and charts to represent data from a windmill. He’s, in essence, documenting the weather for us to examine. Over the summer, as part of his McNair Research Project, and with the guidance of

Shamima_Yasmin_LG
Dr. Shamima Yasmin, Erik Almaguer’s mentor, is an assistant professor of computer sciences.

Dr. Shamima Yasmin, he joined The Alternative Energy Engineering Club. With their help, a windmill was created with weather sensors, Raspberry Pi, Arduinos, and a weather proof box to house the exposed hardware. It was an undertaking that required communications from McNair and the rest of the campus. Almaguer said, “Having the office in Patterson was pretty cool, because they wanted to help me out. Timothy Raver, he was pretty cool because he helped me find a spot that would work, and with setting up my wireless sensors.”

It is through hard work and endurance expressed by Almaguer that inspires the faculty in McNair, and throughout campus, that change can happen anywhere. His programming and 3D models have the capability to change the community at large.  He’s taken his research to Hargreaves for Eastern’s Symposium, and to Pasadena, California, where he participated in the 30th HENAAC conference with other students around the country.

“Without the McNair Scholar Program, I wouldn’t have any of the opportunities to develop real world applications or work with computer graphics,” Almaguer said.

Erik Project 1
From left to right: Dr. Dale Lindekugel, Tim Raver, Erik Almaguer.

There is no limit to what our scholars can achieve. If you were to sit back and watch the weather outside, Almaguer could tell us so much more; according to his model, the wind is gusting this way.

Filed Under: ErikAlmaguer, McNair Mentors, News, Scholars, Social Media Tagged With: Celebration, McNair Scholar, Mentor, News

EWU McNair Alumni Spotlight: Micheal Callaway, PhD

11/29/2018 by jlittleton1 Leave a Comment

Dr. Micheal Callaway
Dr. Micheal Callaway, Residential English Faculty at Mesa Community College.

EWU McNair Scholar alumnus Micheal Callaway was the first person in his family to graduate from college when he earned his bachelor’s degree in English from Eastern Washington University. Although neither of his parents had a high school degree, he credits their support for creating an educational foundation that allowed him to continue through the educational pipeline to earn his PhD, co-author a book on writing, and return to the classroom as English faculty. “My mom earned her GED at the same time I graduated from high school,” he states, “and my dad earned his GED before he entered the military. He was a very educated, self-taught man. They never went to university, but raised me as if I would. I was always being taught, and to value learning, but it didn’t really click with me until many years later when I realized, oh yeah, my parents made me do things other kids didn’t do. So what seemed like a natural ability was really them, because they wanted me to advance.”

His parents provided workbooks and flashcards at home. There were summer reading programs, and even though athletics and after-school jobs took some focus from academics, Callaway’s high school record was strong enough for him to be admitted to EWU. He arrived on the Cheney campus understanding the value of education, but still lacking skills necessary to excel. As a first-generation college student, he was not prepared to do well on the college placement tests, and he tested into remedial English and Math. He was also required to enroll in note-taking, offered through the TRIO Student Support Services program that was then on campus.

Dr. Paul Lindholdt, EWU English professor

“It just so happened that the note-taking class was right across the hall from the office of the Director of McNair [which was Dr. Karen McKinney at that time]. And about halfway through the quarter, the advisor I worked with realized I had more ability than I showed on my tests. She took me across the hall and introduced me to Karen. I learned about McNair, and it sort of started from there.”

The TRIO Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program is one of a national pipeline of federally-funded TRIO programs that provide educational opportunities for students from disadvantaged backgrounds. TRIO McNair focuses on research and scholarly activities to prepare first-generation, low-income and/or underrepresented students for success at the doctoral level. Callaway was accepted into Eastern’s TRIO McNair program once finished his developmental courses and gone on to do well in more challenging classes. As a McNair Scholar, he completed two McNair summer research internships: Transformation of a Collaborative Learning Class with EWU English professor Dr. Paul Lindholdt, and The Journey of the Outsider: At the Beginning of the Life of a Scholar with McNair faculty mentor Dr. LaVona Reeves, professor of English and Women’s & Gender Studies and MATESL Program Director. McNair also provided him the opportunity to attend regional and national conferences to present both projects, and he credits that experience as one of the many ways McNair prepared him for success in his PhD program.

Dr. Reeves
Dr. LaVona Reeves, professor of English and Women’s & Gender Studies and MATESL Program Director

“I got to graduate school at ASU and some of my colleagues had all the credentials, Ivy League schools and all, but McNair had given me the chance to present at conferences, and to work with and develop strong relationships with faculty. So that even though I came from a small school, I had confidence. I felt prepared. My EWU mentors would sometime mentor me overtly, tell me what I should and shouldn’t think about, but also, they sometimes kind of looked at me and would say, ‘Hey figure it out.’ They gave me books to read, and I read them. And they treated me more like an equal than I probably deserved as an eighteen- year-old kid showing up in the summer and asking question and writing papers.”

Dr. Callaway is now on the other side of that conversation. After graduating from Eastern, he went on to earn a PhD in Rhetoric and Composition from Arizona State University, doing research on authenticity and identity construction and completing a dissertation titled Authentic Performances: The Paradox of Black Identity. He is now residential faculty (equivalent of tenured) at Mesa Community College, where he teaches developmental and introductory English, as well as literature classes. Mesa is the largest of ten institutions in the Maricopa Community College District in southern Arizona, serving a diverse population of more than twenty-thousand students, over half who are the first person in their family to go to college. Many must overcome a negative view of education, and Dr. Callaway works to get students to make connections between their own lives and how a liberal arts education might be of value to them.

“I teach writing, but I want them to think of writing in terms of communication. It’s thinking about how you would engage with people in your day-to-day life, and using those same skills when you write. So, for example, if you go into a room and you’re going to have a conversation, you don’t just jump in and start talking. First you listen for a little while and figure out what the important parts of the conversation are, and then you contribute. It’s the same thing in writing. You don’t just start writing about something you don’t know anything about. You have to do a bit of reading, understand what’s going on, and then you contribute. I try to get them to think about that, and about the writing they do in their life, because that shapes the way they view communication as much anything.  And a writing class is also a reading class as well. We do a lot of critical reading and talk about current events. I try to get them to pay attention.”

He wants his students to learn to write and communicate in ways that facilitate understanding, not antagonism, and encourages students not to trivialize important issues. From his perspective, part of his job as an English professor is to “try to get my students to see that these issues aren’t really jokes, that the joke is on you if you don’t get that it’s not really a joke. These are important issues to pay attention to, and I try to take two or steps back to really talk about the issues.”

Emphasizing to his students the importance of how to approach their audience, he  reminds them that, “people don’t respond well to being laughed at,” but that “if you can define and talk about the real issue, then that can be something worth addressing and talking about.”

Sage advice for our times.

Submitted by Cynthia Dukich, EWU McNair Assistant Director, November 29, 2018

Filed Under: Alumni, Alumni Spotlight, EWU McNair PhD's, News Tagged With: Achievement, Alumni Spotlight, Celebration, News, PhD

McNair Scholars Representing EWU at National Latinx Psychology Association Conference in LaJolla, CA

11/29/2018 by jlittleton1 Leave a Comment

EWU McNair 2018 summer research interns, Rosa Espinosa-Zunigaand Marixza Torres, recently represented Eastern Washington University at the National Latina Psychological Association Conference in LaJolla, CA. This professional conference included prominent Latinx psychologists from around the country along with graduate students and a handful of undergraduates like Ms. Torres and Ms. Espinosa-Zuniga, who both presented posters showcasing their McNair research internship projects. Ms. Torres’s poster was titled Needs and Challenges of Latinx Families of Children with Autism, and presented the results of the McNair project she completed with the guidance of her McNair faculty research mentor, Dr. Christina Torres, EWU McNair Director. Ms. Espinosa-Zuniga’s poster was titled Gratitude, Spirituality and Religiosity in the Aging Population, and showcased the results of the project she conducted with her McNair research mentor, Dr. Phillip Watkins, EWU professor of psychology.

Max and Rosa are both majoring in psychology, and were encouraged to submit abstracts to the NPLA conference by Dr. Nallelly Galvan, a fellow EWU McNair Scholar psychology alumna who conducted her McNair research internship with Dr. Russell Kolts. She earned her bachelor’s degree from EWU and then continuing her education to earn a master’s degree from Indiana University in Counseling Psychology, as well as an educational specialist degree in Community Mental Health and Public Health. She then completed her PhD in Counseling Psychology from the University of Illinois, and accepted a position with the U.S. Department of Justice as a staff psychologist and served as the suicide prevention program coordinator at a medical center for female offenders. Currently within the agency, she is the coordinator of the only federal residential drug abuse program designed for monolingual Spanish speaking female offenders which she developed and implemented, and for which she was the recipient of a prestigious national award within the agency in 2014.

EWU McNair is everywhere!!!

 

Filed Under: 2017-2018 Cohort, Acceptances/Awards, Events, MarixzaTorres, News, RosaEspinosaZuniga, Scholars, Social Media Tagged With: Achievement, Celebration, Conference Presentation, Events, McNair Scholar, News

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