WC Wisconsin News

The U.S. Department of Education earmarked funding to cover operating costs for a graduate school preparation program, for the next five years. The program is designed to boost first-generation, low-income undergraduate students at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.

The Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program, named after American astronaut Dr. Ronald McNair, has operated at UW-Eau Claire for more than 20 years with a goal of leveling the playing field in graduate education and diversifying the American research community, according to WisPolitics.com. 

“Without the grant, this opportunity would not exist for UW-Eau Claire students,” McNair program director Dr. Kelly Wonder told WisPolitics.com.

The McNair program serves 27 UW-Eau Claire students each year and includes benefits such as research seminars, internships, faculty mentoring and tutoring. The program will receive grants totaling $275,516 a year for the next five years. Wonder attributes federal funding as the sole source of funding for the program. 

“This program offers our current undergraduate students the support and inspiration they need to seek an advanced degree,” Olga Diaz, vice chancellor for equity, diversity and inclusion, and student affairs, said. “We are honored to continue the legacy of Ronald McNair at UW-Eau Claire.”

Of the 2022 graduates of the McNair program, seven students applied and were accepted to graduate school. 

Wonder also highlighted the importance of the program's support from faculty and campus administrators.

“The academic departments are essential in helping us identify and recruit potential scholars, as well as mentor scholars through the research process,” she said. “We get amazing interns from the English department and other academic programs that help us carry out our work."