We are excited to invite you to be a part of our 30th Annual UMBC McNair Scholars Conference. This year, the conference will be held in person at the Hilton Baltimore Inner Harbor [LINK], with the Graduate School Fair kicking off the actual conference on Saturday, September 17th, 2:30 pm – 4:00 pm. However, those who register are invited to participate in Breakfast, Lunch, and attend the students’ presentations (oral and poster).
We’re doing a few things a little differently this year, but we hope to provide you with the same extraordinary experience. We are offering several additional perks as part of your registration that we hope will be of great benefit.
- Registration via Eventbrite – Here’s the link to register. We will send you a second link to gather more information once you have registered. You will have multiple ways to pay, including via invoice. NOTE: If you pay by check/invoice you will be charged a $25 processing fee PER Ticket/Person Registered. TO BE ADDED TO INVOICE. We encourage you to utilize the Eventbrite credit card processing.
- Grad Reps registration includes one grad fair table and one person registered. If you decide to have more than one individual representing your program, we do require each to register at the reduced grad rep rate. Also, Grad Reps can purchase Friday Crusie tickets as an add-on.
- Refund Policy — Registration fees are refundable (less processing charge of 10% for registration fees) if written notice of cancellation is received via e-mail (mcnairs@umbc.ecdu) on or before August 1st.
- Sponsorship – We are hoping that 10 graduate programs/institutions will also sign up for Graduate Sponsor (see add-on option on the Eventbrite registration). Sponsorship includes all aspects of the conference (including a ticket to the Friday cruise and special sponsored table lunch with chosen scholars).
- Individual Grad Fair Table for Program – Each registered program will have its own table at the grad fair that could be set up throughout the entire conference (at your own discretion).
- Conference Attendees List – At least two weeks prior to the conference, you will be provided a list of registrants with relevant information about them including their degree programs of interest.
- Registration for the entire conference – although the grad school fair will be held on Saturday afternoon, we are hoping that you will still participate in the full conference. You will be able to attend the keynote and participate in the scholar presentations that you may find intriguing in order to make further connections with the scholars (this includes Breakfast, Lunch, and snacks).
- Graduate Fair Booklet – As a bonus, we will be creating a graduate school fair booklet that will be disseminated not only to the attendees but will be forwarded to the entire national McNair community. As part of the booklet, you will be able to submit a full-page color advertisement for your program, and there will be a profile sheet for each institution highlighting key aspects that are important to our McNair family.
- Hotel – Please book your rooms via our personalized link for Hilton Baltimore Inner Harbor. Doing so will ensure we meet our minimum required rooms. The special price is $179 per night (before fees and taxes).
Next Steps After Registration
Once you register, we will send you this link to a separate Grad Rep Profile form [LINK] that will gather all the information necessary for the Grad Fair Booklet that the attendees will receive.
The deadline to register and have all forms submitted will be August 15th, 2022, at 5 pm EST.
These are sample questions that are asked on The UMBC McNair Conference Grad Representative Prep FORM. We will compile your responses and use them within the Graduate Fair booklet. (Deadline is August 15th, 5 pm EST, to be included in the booklet)
- Does your institution have a McNair Scholars Program? (Yes or No)
- Number of McNair Scholars enrolled at your institution (undergraduate and graduate)
- Does your institution honor the national McNair application fee waiver?
- If no, are other application fee waivers available?
- Is there a special process for obtaining any fee waivers, including McNair?
- Please list visitation possibilities that cater to diversity (include websites):
- Please discuss graduate school funding for diverse applicants:
- Please describe the support systems within graduate school to support diverse applicants once enrolled:
- What professional development opportunities exist for diverse graduate students within your program/ institution.
- Attachments: Full Page 8.5 by 11 color advertisement, and Institution’s Logo
Please note that the booklet will state that the information was provided directly from the institutional representative listed. Therefore, we urge you to make sure that the information is accurate.