IUP has received a supplemental grant award of $119,783 from
the U.S. Department of Education for its McNair Scholars program.
The supplemental
award boosts the 2014–15 program’s continuation award of $228,000 (which
reflects restoration of sequestration funding) to a total of $348,583. Professor
Calvin Masilela, principal investigator on the grant, noted that “this is truly
unprecedented in the history of TRIO programs at IUP and nationally, and
reflects the department’s recognition of the successful coordinated management
of the McNair program at IUP over the past 10 years.” He also commented that
the news is especially welcome given the recent grant competition which saw
McNair programs lose 10 million in available funds, resulting in the loss of
one-third of funded programs nationally. Further, in 2012–13, federal budget
sequestration reduced all TRIO program budgets by approximately 5 percent.
“With this supplemental award, the IUP McNair program
expects to serve more students in 2015–16, potentially increasing participants’
stipends to $2800, increased seminars, workshops, invited lectures, and
conference participation and travel, etc.” noted Hilary Staples, director
of the McNair Scholars Program. Staples also reflected that “this is
especially gratifying news that come on the heels of the PhD completion of
Dr. Danielle Wylie from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Dr. Wylie is the
fifth program alumni to earn a PhD, and to know she is now in a tenure-track
position at Mississippi State University is awesome.” Kudos go to IUP faculty
mentors and administration for the support the program has received over the
past decade.
The McNair program is one of the seven federal TRIO programs
authorized by the Higher Education Act of 1965, and amended in 2008 to assist
low-income, first-generation, and underrepresented minority Americans to
persist in their education with the ultimate goal of attaining a doctoral
degree. In so doing, they become faculty members and/or researchers who give
back to society through teaching and mentoring.