NEWARK , August 13, 1999 - New Jersey Institute of Technology has received the Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program grant. The McNair program is a four-year $760,000 federal grant that will prepare high achieving and intellectually curious low-income, first-generation and ethnic/racial minority students for doctoral study in the fields of science, engineering and mathematics.

     Of the three new McNair proposals submitted to the U.S. Department of Education from New Jersey, NJIT was the only one funded. NJIT joins Rutgers University, which has the only other McNair Program in the state.

     Each year, 20 McNair juniors and seniors from Newark College of Engineering (NCE), the College of Science and Liberal Arts (CSLA), and the Albert Dorman Honors College will be selected as McNair Fellows. The McNair Advisory Committee, which will include faculty from NCE and CSLA and key administrators, will select the Fellows, review their research proposals and journal articles, and oversee the program from implementation to evaluation.

     During the academic year, McNair Fellows will conduct research under the guidance of ethnically diverse faculty mentors and graduate peer mentors. Upon completing their junior year, Fellows will participate in an intense Summer Research Institute, where they will be intensely exposed to a wide array of graduate school preparation activities.

     The McNair program will connect more undergraduate students who have been, and continue to be, underrepresented in graduate programs in science, engineering and mathematics with faculty mentors who can excite them about research and guide them into collegiate teaching and doctoral-level research. As a result, there will be an increased number of doctoral-level scientists, engineers and mathematicians in the United States in the 21st century.

     Organizations, such as the U.S. Department of Education, the National Science Foundation, and the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering, have documented that students who develop close intellectual relationships with faculty and are involved with research activities at the undergraduate level significantly improve their critical thinking and problem-solving skills and, hence, their chances of succeeding in graduate school. NJIT plans also to develop a model for other colleges and universities across the nation. Faculty members from NCE and CSLA will introduce McNair Fellows to high-quality research and publications during the academic year and in the summer.

     Faculty mentors will help Fellows obtain an understanding of the importance of pursuing doctoral degrees, develop a realistic perspective to the challenges they will face while pursuing a Ph.D., provide technical assistance with the graduate school application process and maintain in contact with Fellows after graduation from NJIT and enrollment in graduate studies. McNair Fellows can select any university in the United States for their post-baccalaureate study.

      NJIT is a public research university enrolling nearly 8,200 undergraduate, graduate and doctoral students in 76 degree programs through five colleges: Newark College of Engineering, the School of Architecture, the College of Science and Liberal Arts, the School of Management and the Albert Dorman Honors College. Research initiatives include multimedia, manufacturing, microelectronics, transportation, computer science, solar astrophysics, environmental engineering and science, and architecture and building science. Yahoo! Internet Life Magazine has ranked NJIT the "most wired" public university in America for two consecutive years. U.S. News and World Report's "1999 Annual Guide to America's Best Colleges" ranked NJIT among the nation's top universities. Money Magazine's most recent issue of "Best College Buys" rated NJIT as the sixth best value among U.S. science and technology colleges and universities and among the top 100 overall.