The McNair Voice

The 15^th annual SAEOPP McNair Conference was held in Atlanta, Georgia this year. This is a major change from years past because the SAEOPP McNair Conference has been held at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. This year the conference was co-hosted by the McNair Programs at Georgia State University and Morehouse College. The conference started on Thursday with a powerful theatrical performance entitled Peaches by the world renowned Progress Theatre. The performance was held at the Martin Luther King Jr. Chapel located on the historic Morehouse College campus. During the day on Friday the McNair scholars had a chance to present their posters. Friday night the gap between the past and the present of the McNair Program was bridged with an alumni reception. The purpose of the reception was for the new McNair scholars to get advice and words of wisdom from former McNair scholars who understand the challenges that the new scholars are facing. On Saturday it was time for the scholars with shy personalities to leave them at the door because it was time to do oral presentations. A McNair conference would not be complete without a Graduate School Fair. The Graduate School fair at this conference had an added twist. This grad fair did in fact have tables set up where the students could stop by a speak with the recruiters and get information on the schools but the students also had a chance to sit down and have lunch with recruiters from the school they were most interested in. This approach allowed students the chance to get more face time with the recruiters as well as the chance to interact on a more personal level. When Sunday came around most of the scholars were beat from the long days and short nights, but there was still unfinished business that had to be settled. The conference organizers did not want the efforts of the scholars that gave exceptional posters and oral presentations to go unnoticed or unrewarded, so there was an awards ceremony. The highlight of Sunday and perhaps the conference was the keynote speech that was given by Mrs. Cheryl McNair the widow of Dr. Ronald E. McNair.  

McNair scholar Kris Eby has submitted an article to the River Research and Applications Journal for submission. The title of the article is “Spatial variation in the bed texture and source sediments for two uniform reaches of the Fall River in Rocky Mountain National Parks.” Kris is awaiting the selection committee’s final decision. If Kris’s article is selected to be published he will be well on his way to distinguishing himself from his undergraduate peers when it comes to preparing for admittance into a graduate program. Graduate school is designed to train students on how to write articles with the intention of being submitted and published. So if a student has already been through to process before entering a graduate program they are a good ways above the learning curve. The McNair family wants to congratulate Mr. Eby. Way to go man we are proud of you. Keep us posted and let us know when you hear back from the selection committee.   

On Monday, January 20, 2009 Barack Obama was sworn in as the 44^th president of the United States of America. His inauguration was significant for a number of reasons; first, he is the first African American to become president, second he took office in the midst of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, and third contrary to prior inaugurations Obama did not give a feel good, upbeat speech. Instead, he let the country know that the reason the country is in so much turmoil is because of bad decision making and greed on part of the government and the citizens it represent.  Obama closed his speech by giving the government and the people a charge to help foster a positive change by saying, “Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.” He told the nation that change would not be easy but it was necessary because we are indebted to the ones that have come before us and gave their lives in hopes of a better day.  After hearing Obama speech it made me think of all the people that dedicated their lives to the struggle for change; and I feel like it is my obligation to contribute to the movement of change. As a McNair Scholar I feel like I am a direct beneficiary of the struggles and the dreams of the Civil Rights Movement and therefore I feel it is only right for me to be a part of the movement for change that is taking place now. I charge my fellow McNair Scholars to also take an active role in the movement of change because we are the leaders of tomorrow.

The Georgia State University McNair program took five of its most promising scholars to the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (ABRCMS) that was held in Orlando Florida from November 5^th-9^th. This talented group of scholars included Blein McIntyre, Isha Metzger, Amber Wimsatt, Gina Vanagas, Salamatu Barrie.  There were over 3,000 scholars that presented their research at this conference. Isha Metzger won an award for Best Poster for Social and Behavioral Science at the conference.  This is nothing new for Isha because she won the first place prize for her poster at the end of the research program at Georgia State University.

The McNair Program wants to commend these scholars for their hard work and dedication to the program and its goals. Kudos to the future Dr. Metzger!!!

The Ronald E. McNair Program at Georgia State is trying to expand its recruiting efforts in hopes of attracting more perspective scholars. The McNair Program is coming up with new and innovative ways to reach the students around campus. For example, the McNair Program is in the process of filming its own three minute commercial. It is the program hopes that the commercial will do a good job of capturing the essence of the program by showing the McNair Program and scholars in action. The recruiting efforts are not only lead by the McNair Staff but the scholars are playing an integral role in the recruiting campaigns. Cedrick Dortch, one of the McNair Program brightest scholars has had an active role in the recruiting. On October 24^th he single handedly recruiting around five scholars at the Psychology Department Practicum Fair some of which have already came to the McNair office and made inquires. We would like to commend Cedrick for his hard work and diligence. It is the hope of the program that other scholars follow in his footsteps.         

Some of Georgia State’s finest McNair Scholars, Amber Wimsatt and Isha Metzgter will be participating  in the Southern Regional Educational Board (SREB)/Compact for Faculty Diversity Conference in Tampa Florida. The conference will be held from October 22 until October 26, 2008. It is no coincidence that these two brilliant scholars was selected to represent the GSU McNair Program at this conference because they both displayed such a dedication and ambition during the summer research program that warrants such a reward. Amber Wimsatt was awarded the first place prize in the oral competition; Isha Metzgter received the first place prize in the poster competition that was held at Georgia State University at the end of the summer program.

We wish these scholars the best!!!

Georgia State University Research Symposium

The Georgia State University chapter of the Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program held its first research symposium on Friday, September 12, 2008. The purpose of the symposium was to give McNair Scholars at GSU and programs throughout the southeastern region and beyond an opportunity to present their research in an academic conference setting. There were scholars from 10 different institutions including Georgia State University represented at the symposium. The scholars came from schools as far north as the University of Cincinnati; as far south as the University of South Florida; and as far west as the University of Alabama.

The morning started with a welcome from Mr. Curtis Byrd, Director of the McNair Program at Georgia State University. Shortly thereafter the Symposium kicked into high gear with the poster presentations. There were seventeen posters presented. The posters addressed issues ranging from the Autism epidemic to the low numbers of African American in managerial positions in corporate American. The observers of the posters were given the chance to evaluate the presenters in an effort to give feedback to participating scholars. 

During lunch a panel of graduate recruiters discussed the do’s and don’ts of preparing to enter a graduate program. The panel was headed by Tomalei Vess of Duke University, and included Kharen Fulton of Emory University, Brett Locklear of NC State University, Dr. George Robbins of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and Kedrick Perry of University of Virginia. The panel engaged the audience by detailing personal accounts of their educational journey. The panel touched on issues such as funding for a graduate education and the application process. For example, the panel told the scholars that institutions should be paying them to get a Ph.D. and not the other was around. It was apparent that after the panel the scholars felt more prepared to tackle the requirements needed to enter into a graduate program.  

The oral presentations were held after lunch but the scholars showed no signs of slowing down. There were thirty-nine oral presenters. The oral presentations addressed issues ranging from the portrayal of African Americans in the media to the U.S. involvement in the crisis in Dafur. All of the oral presentations were informative and relevant to the issues facing the world today.

The oral presentations had gotten the scholars hungry again.  The scholars and the graduate recruiters partook in a graduate dinner. At the dinner the scholars were seated by disciplines and the recruiters were also seated at the tables based on their areas of expertise. The recruiters were able to talk to the students on a more personal level during the dinner. The recruiters told the scholars exactly what their graduate programs expected when they were considering admitting applicants and they also told them what they needed to do to meet those expectations.

The headline of the night came after dinner when Dr. Robert L. Belle, Jr. delivered the keynote speech. Dr. Belle is the Director of the SREB-AGEP Doctoral Scholars Program and for many years has been a champion for the McNair Program as well as the other TRIO programs. Dr. Belle informed the scholars about the storm that is taking place in our society today.  He insisted that it is going to take savvy, intelligent people to help our society weather the storm. He ended his speech by giving each scholar a charge to go on and obtain a Doctoral degree so they can be instrumental in weathering the storm.            

The Ronald E. McNair Program at Georgia State University held its fall orientation on August 26, 2008. The purpose of the orientation was to introduce the McNair program to students that might not be unaware of the McNair program and its benefits and purpose. The orientation was attended by more than 30 GSU undergraduates.

The orientation begun with an icebreaker which was led the director of the McNair program, Mr. Curtis Byrd. He posed questions to the perspective scholars to find out if they had any prior knowledge about Dr. Ronald E. McNair and the Trio programs. “Tokens of appreciation” were given to the students that answered the questions correct.

The bulk of the program consisted of a presentation that was given by Mr. Byrd to inform the students about the McNair program and what it could do for them in terms of preparing them for graduate education.

The orientation concluded with the current McNair scholars giving testimonials of their experiences in the McNair program to the perspective scholars.  

Amber Wimsatt (AW) came first in the oral presentations. Our graduate assistant Omer Ari (OA) interviewed her about her presentation. Below are the highlights and the transcription of the actual interview.

Amber Wimsatt receives her award from the director of the Ga. State McNair Program, Mr. Curtis Byrd.

Highlights

The presentation went well because I believe that I can make a difference in the future with this research, and thus I wanted to be as knowledgeable as possible and to get people excited and interested.

Some are good at math…others excel in speech and presentation. I speak : )

I really tried to plainly [explain] the problem so that individuals listening would themselves want to know what is causing it and what we can all do to change it.

One section that was particularly difficult during the presentation was giving background information.

Many times speakers will lose credibility with the audience because of inappropriate or poor diction. It really is a shame because these speakers really may have something important to say.

Eye contact helps you communicate and converse with your audience rather than “talking at them.”

Gestures are more of an icing on the cake. Too much icing however, can distract from the flavor of the cake, so it is important to use them when appropriate and most effective.

Before the presentation, write out a nice and short introductory sentence and memorize it, so that you can [face] the audience directly with it when you start.

Amber explains her research to the viewers during the poster presentation.

Interview

(OA) Congratulations! Why do you think you came first in the orals? How do you think your presentation compared to your peers’?

(AW) Thanks. I did see many of the other oral presentations and I thought they were great. If I had to say any one thing, though, I would say that the presentation went well because I believe that I can make a difference in the future with this research, and thus I wanted to be as knowledgeable as possible and get people excited and interested. The more people realize the importance of this research then the faster we can make changes.

(OA) Did you get special training before for giving presentations? If so, what kind?

(AW) I did not have any special training beyond normal speech communication classes. I will say that I do think one of my talents is to speak well in front of others. Some are good at math…others excel in speech and presentation. I speak : )

(OA) What do you think about your research topic’s presentability? What role do you think topic plays in presenting research?

(AW) Especially because this is a minority focused program, I do think that for this particular event (and other McNair events to come) scholars and other researchers were and will continue to be genuinely interested in this type of research and information. Interested people who believe that this is important work make the effort to go beyond the surface levels of the presentation and understand the information at its core. Beyond the sophistication and technicalities that are often tag-a-longs with research, I really tried to plainly make the serious nature of the problem known so that individuals listening would themselves want to know what is causing it and what we can all do to change it.

(OA) What section(s) did you have the hardest time explaining during your presentation? Why?

(AW) One section that was particularly difficult was the background information. I wanted listeners to understand the nature of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) but I did not want to overwhelm them with specific details or address any of the recent points of controversy.

(OA) How do you think you did on diction, eye contact, and gestures during your presentation? How effective do you think these “physical” points are for an oral presentation?

(AW) Clear and appropriate diction is one of the make-or-break points of a presentation. Like Dr. McNeal said, “you are trying to make an exchange with the audience, and thus you must be fluent in the currency with which to make that exchange.” Many times speakers will lose credibility with the audience because of inappropriate or poor diction. It really is a shame because these speakers really may have something important to say. Eye contact is also critical. You want to engage people, so look at them. Eye contact helps you communicate and converse with your audience rather than “talking at them.” Gestures are more of an icing on the cake physical point. Too much icing however, can distract from the flavor of the cake, so it is important to use them when appropriate and most effective.

(OA) Did you use any special strategies to help you remember important information during the presentation (cards, mnemonics, etc)?

(AW) No special strategies; just a simple speaking outline. I do write out a nice and short introductory sentence and memorize it, so that I am able to look directly at members of the audience when I begin the presentation.

(OA) If you could redo your presentation, what would you like to do differently?

(AW) I might present more information about ASDs.

(OA) How did you “flow” your presentation?

(AW) The flow of my presentation closely resembled the layout of my poster.

(OA) How did you use graphics in your PowerPoint presentation? What would you recommend for your peers?

(AW) I used a few simple charts and bar graphs that could be easily and briefly explained. I would recommend that presenters use a graphic that highlights any significant findings, and use a different graphic for each finding rather than trying to explain multiple findings with one complicated graph, chart, or table.

(OA) What would you suggest we include in an “oral presentations” workshop for some of your peers who did not do as well as you did.

(AW) Scholars should NOT re-introduce themselves and their topics once they have already been verbally introduced, unless of course they have some clever way of doing so that directly leads into their background information. If the audience for some reason did not hear their name, they can still read it on their title slide. Re-introductions greatly reduce momentum once on the stage and are distracting to the audience.

Isha Metzger (IM) came first in the poster presentation. She tells her secret to our graduate assistant Omer Ari (OA), who has transcribed the interview for you. Read and learn her trick. Before the interview, however, you should read a short summary of her research study printed below.

Summary of Isha’s study

In her research study, Isha used an alternate vocabulary test (i.e., the KidCategories Test) to attain a more comprehensive understanding of the semantic knowledge of African-American children from low-income families (Pena, 2001). She administered both a receptive one-word picture vocabulary test and an alternate test (the KidCategories test based on Nelson and Nelson’s 1990 study) to thirty-nine participants.

She compared responses from the African-American children in her study to those from White American children in Nelson and Nelson’s (1990) study and to those from Latino American children in Pena, et al’s (2002) study. She found that African American children from low-SES backgrounds performed differently from White American children, but they were similar to Latino American children of the same age group.

Interview

(OA) Congratulations on winning the poster competition. Why do you think your poster came first?

(IM) It was well-organized and done in a way in which people from multiple disciplines can look at it and understand exactly what I did.

(OA) Can you tell us about the organization of the poster?

(IM) I started with a little background info section and added a relevancy section so that people who were not familiar with the field would understand why it was an important topic to study. Then I gave my purpose for my study and described the participants. Next, I explained the test I gave in the study in a separate section, which is followed by a results section where I showed how my kids did in comparison to the studies. In this section, I also compared the different categories based on the past studies and showed that my kids in fact were comparable to the Latino American children although they are different from the White American children, but not deficient in comparison. This information of course was included in my conclusions section. Overall, I think the section flow well and are pretty coherent.

(OA) What else do you see in your poster that made the difference for you?

(IM) I would say it is important to make everything simple so that someone coming by who are tired (because they have been perusing other posters in the conference) can look at a specific section and pinpoint the info that they want to find. Also, it is important to make it aesthetically appealing and to make it flow and come together well.

(OA) How did you go about using graphics in your poster?

(IM) I think graphics should be used to summarize anything that would take a lot of words to express. Graphics should complement and enhance the content of the poster.

(OA) Any suggestions about graphics in a poster?

(IM) Graphics should not be too complex, or overpowering. There should be a good balance between graphics, words, and white space. Everything should be labeled clearly.

(OA) What challenges did you face while putting together your poster?

(IM) It was hard to condense all the information I wanted to put in such a small space. It is a challenge to make the poster clear enough so that someone with no or little background info could look at it and completely understand the study. My most important tip would be to pay attention to all the little details. People think it is funny when you obsess about little things, but sometimes it is that attention to detail that pays off in the end. Text should be used in a way which highlights the important points and gets the message across clearly in as few words as possible.

(OA) Poster is certainly another way of disseminating information. Did you feel that it fulfilled the purpose for you?

(IM) Definitely! A poster is a great way to summarize an extensive project and to pinpoint all of the important parts of something that you work so hard on and that you want people to be aware of.

(OA) What did the poster not do for you and your research?

(IM) In comparison to the oral presentation, the poster is shorter and less detailed.

(OA) Congratulations again and thanks for your time.

(IM) You are welcome.