The theme of v.17 is "Enhance your knowledge with McNair". The articles featured in this journal represent the work of Program participants from the 2011 – 2012 grant year. The works of thirteen students are from the campus of Wichita State University. Twelve of these students are McNair Scholars and one student conducted research through the National Science Foundation (NSF) KS EPSCoR Summer Research Program. There are three full manuscripts and ten summaries presented.