Alexis Anderson
Blue & White Flash / Staff Writer
Ross Walton, a senior accounting major from Clarksdale, Miss. was one of 13 scholars to participate in the Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program’s 12th Annual Undergraduate Research Forum held on Feb. 20, 2012.
In the program, first year students must have junior status and participate in a mandatory summer research internship. During this internship students are paired with faculty mentors who assist them with understanding the research process through completing research.
Walton said, “I joined the program because it was created to help African-Americans. This program exposes people of my color to the possibility of earning a Ph.D.”
Loria Brown, Special Assistant to the Associate Vice President for Student Life and Director of TRIO Programs, stated that the purpose of the McNair Program is to prepare low income, first generation college students and people from groups who are underrepresented in graduate education for the pursuit of the doctoral degree.
“Students who participate (in the McNair Program) are involved in a two year process. The first year consists of learning the research process and the second year is applying to graduate school. Students present research as a debut here at JSU and then during other McNair and undergraduate forums and conferences,” said Brown. “There are currently 26 McNair Scholars at JSU, we are funded to serve 30.
Walton’s research dealt with the lack of financial literacy among African-American students. In his research, he found that approximately 40 percent of African-American students do not have a financial plan.
“The advice I would give about money management is that if you can truly do without something, do not buy it. When we as teenagers and young adults get our hands on some money we literally go out looking for ways to spend it; when in fact we should practice on saving,” said Walton, who has already started a financial plan.
He added: “Our biggest assumption is that we think we have to have a lot or make a lot of money to save when that is not true. It doesn’t matter if you put away $5, $10, or $20 a day, week or month or even two months, just start to save. Our first biggest problem is learning how to save.”
For more information about McNair Scholars, contact the Trio Programs office at 601-979-4275.
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