The Research Experience - The McNair Cornerstone

The centerpiece of the McNair Scholars Program is the faculty-directed Research Experience, which occurs during the summer between the first and second academic program years. The McNair Program works with Faculty Mentors to guide Scholars through the conceptualization, design, enactment, and presentation of the research project. The research component of the program provides Scholars with valuable first-hand research experience, exposure to the processes of scholarly inquiry, and valuable opportunities for professional socialization and development.

McNair Scholars engage in pre-research preparation activities through the Fall and Spring McNair Scholars Seminars during Year One. Participants in the Summer Research Program, enroll in 3 credits of Independent Study/Directed Research under the supervision of a Faculty Mentor. Regular meetings between Scholars and Mentors and Scholar’s participation in the Summer Research Group provide structure for the research experience. McNair Summer Research Fellows receive a research stipend up to $2800 and a fee waiver for 3 credits of Independent Study.

McNair Scholars write-up and publish their research in the Boise State McNair Research Journal [link to journal page under “Resources”], published annually in the spring. Previous McNair Summer Research projects include:

• Coping with the Trauma of War at Home and Abroad: The Case of Bosnian Residents and Refugees in Idaho’s Treasure Valley
• Gold Lift-Off Process for Fabricating Bio-Sensors
• The alpha 1 Chain of Collagen XI, Posttranslational Modifications, and the Pericellular Matrix
• Pensive Lullabies: Re-Examining Children’s Stories through Visual Representation
• Movers and Shakers: Investigating the Role of Policy Entrepreneurs
• Crossing Borderlands: The Face of Chicana Border Literature
• Critical Literacy at Four Rivers Community School
• Sexuality and Blind Women: An Ethnographic Study
• Examining the Validity of Cross-Cultural Polygraph
• Cuban Diaspora: Relocation of Refugees in Countries of First Asylum
• Calsequestrin Aggregation and Conditions of Disassociation
• Intimate Partner Violence Among Gay and Lesbian Populations
• Personality Characteristics as Predictors of Risky Behavior
• Attachment and Disordered Eating
• Impact and Push-Off Force Symmetry in Dominant Versus Non-Dominant Legs During a Jump Landing/Cutting Task
• Generational Transition of Fishing Subsistence Practices in the Pacific Communities of Costa Rica
• Lower Extremity Mechanics During Cutting Tasks in Different Shoe-Turf Combinations
• NOR Digital Response to Single pMOSFET Dielectric Degradation
• Economic and Cultural Consideration for Youth Prevention Programs on the Duck Valley Reservation
• Characterization of Independent Double-Gate Transistors, FlexFET
• Visibility as Power: A Historical Analysis of the Gay Pride Parade in Idaho
• Factors Impacting College Attendance in Low Income Students from Underrepresented Backgrounds.
• Perceptions of Relationship Commitment in Non-heterosexual Couples.
• Educational Funding: Making a Difference in College Readiness