Being a McNair Faculty Mentor means supervising an undergraduate student who will participate in research during his/her junior and senior year at SSU. Faculty Mentors should be committed to the McNair Scholar Program mission and have the capacity and desire to directly support their McNair Scholar throughout the program. The program administration is dedicated to focusing on a strong mentor-mentee relationship while being committed to the training of future scholars from first-generation, low-income, and underrepresented backgrounds. 

The most critical feature of the McNair Scholars Program is the Faculty Mentor/McNair Scholar relationship.  Faculty Mentors provide exposure and insight essential for the McNair Scholar to understand the skills needed to become successful in the academic world.  Their time, energy, expertise and commitment to mentoring scholars are invaluable resources that increase the quality of the McNair experience.  For the McNair Scholar, the benefit of participating in the program depends to a large extent on the supportive relationship between the Faculty Mentor and Scholar.  The relationship is designed to encourage, motivate and prepare the McNair Scholar for graduate studies to pursue an advanced degree. The McNair Scholars Program is an especially critical time of intense involvement as these scholars are learning the research process (some for the first time) from their mentors. Therefore, Faculty Mentors play an integral role in their Scholar’s journey of scholarly research and the graduate school application process. 

Faculty members who are interested in mentoring potential students to the McNair Scholars Program should contact our office. Your willingness to participate to become Faculty Mentors will make a significant contribution to our program. McNair Faculty Mentors receive a $500.00 stipend per student each year.

If you are interested in mentoring a McNair Scholar, please contact Dr. Daniel Melero Malpica: daniel.malpica@sonoma.edu