Students

Research Opportunities

Faculty qualifications

Scholars who choose to participate in a research project first need to find a faculty mentor. The mentor must be a PhD faculty member from USD or from another four-year acredited university.

Faculty mentors must agree to assign appropriate research activities to the McNair Scholar, monitor the McNair Scholar's activities, and provide feedback to the scholar as well as to the McNair program staff.

A written evaluation of the McNair Scholar's performance is required three times during the Scholar's participation in the research project. See below for the Scholar/Mentor contract.

When the research project has concluded, faculty are encouraged to submit an evaluation form (see below) to comment on the performance of the Scholar as well as to make suggestions to staff regarding ways to improve the program.

 

Student Expectations

Proposal

Prior to beginning research, a research proposal must be submitted by the Scholar to McNair staff. The research proposal is a description of the activities that will be undertaken during the period of research. A Scholar proposal should include all information listed in the Proposal Questions file (see below).

Although research may be conducted during the summer months or during the semester, Scholars should be prepared to commit at least 20 hours per week to research activities. In order to receive payment through the McNair Scholars Program for research, progress reports must be submitted to the staff at least once every other week or more often if necessary. The progress report form can be downloaded below.

Presentation

Scholars who complete a research project are expected to present their findings at a conference. Presentations may be delivered orally or via poster. Scholars may choose to present their findings at an off-campus conference, however, all Scholars are expected to present their work at USD's Creative Collaborations conference.

Documents to Download

Scholar/Mentor Contract (PDF format)

Proposal Questions (TXT format)

Supply Request Form (PDF format)

Research Progress Report (TXT format)

Evaluation Form (for faculty - MS Word format)