Job Opportunity! Wesleyan's Center for Prison Education
Join Team CPE! This Women's History Month, we're hiring our first-ever coordinator for full-time focus on our program at York CI -- where CPE has created rigorous college access for incarcerated women in CT for 10 years running. Looking forward to adding a passionate collaborator to this project and community.
Apply here: https://careers.wesleyan.edu/postings/10350
How to Launch a PEP
Many universities, community colleges, certificate/technical and vocational programs, and non-accredited courses have already joined the growing HEP community and with the expansion of Pell, it is now more important than ever for educators hoping to make a foray into prison education spaces, to have resources and guidance to start their prison education partnership program.
If you've ever wondered, how does a HEP or a PEP get started? Never fear! The National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators has constructed a resource page to help those who are looking to enter the HEP field with information, guidance, and assistance.
https://www.nasfaa.org/starting_pep
Education in Action: Building a Bridge of Re-Entry
What does Education in Action look like in practice? Since its inception, the U.S. prison system has functioned to separate people from their families, communities, and the people they harmed. The system has also functioned to prevent people who have caused harm from engaging in any meaningful reparative action. It has functioned to restrict people's ability to care for their families, and to remove mentors, service members, and caretakers from their communities. Education in Action (EiA) is an initiative by the Alliance for Higher Education in Prison (the Alliance) that aims to mitigate some of these harms through professional work opportunities that capitalize on skills gained through higher education in prison. My recent co-facilitation of an interactive workshop with the DC Peace Team is one such example.
When I received my 50-year prison sentence, I gave up on hope of attaining any type of post-secondary education. Thankfully, I met a man who became a dear friend and mentor. He helped me realize that – despite my incarceration – I still had good to offer the world. I had also found myself in a facility where there was a prison education partnership between Maine State Prison and University of Maine at Augusta, funded entirely by Doris Buffett's Sunshine Lady Foundation . After a rough first few years of bouncing in and out of segregation, I settled in enough to begin my higher education journey. Yet, even as I was developing professional skills and deeper critical thinking abilities during the six years of my undergraduate journey, I still had no conception of the possibility that I might be able to operate as a professional before the decades of my sentence had run their course.
When I later started my master's program at the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution , it felt out of the realm of possibility that I might be able to develop a professional identity like my fellow master’s colleagues. Never could I have dreamt that, a short three and a half years later, I would be leading an interactive skills development workshop with a restorative justice and peacebuilding organization for professionals. Yet that's exactly what happened on February 17th of this year.
As part of my graduate work, I participated in a restorative justice training offered by the DC Peace Team last summer. Like many of the virtual spaces I've had the pleasure of joining since starting my master’s education three years ago, I was not stigmatized, ostracized, or ridiculed for my incarceration. Instead, I was among people who understood that, because I caused serious harm in my community, I am uniquely positioned to understand pathways to interrupt cycles of harm and incarceration. I understand what conditions can lead people to engage in serious interpersonal harm. Moreover, because of the harm I have caused, I'm deeply passionate about co-creating spaces of healing, connection, and repair. Through this work, I am constantly learning how to better foster these kinds of environments and relationships.
Sometimes those of us who have caused the greatest harms in our community are also those most committed to preventing further harm from occurring. One avenue of being able to put this passion to work is the workshop I co-facilitated with Drs. Sal Sorbin and Lukas Carey, and Vance Contee, which was called “ Restorative Approaches to Re-Entry: Working with Returning Citizens .” Together, each of us with lived expertise of the criminal legal system, held space for outside community members who are actively working to support people in their reentry and reintegration after incarceration.
Everyone present—all 35 or so of us, inside and outside of prison walls—came together to envision and commit to how we can collectively interrupt cycles of harm and incarceration by welcoming people home in meaningfully supportive ways after incarceration. Engaging in meaningful work like this is Education in Action. This is me, almost 16 years after my initial incarceration at 18 years of age, having an opportunity to pay forward what I cannot pay back. This is what is possible when leaders in Departments of Corrections co-create avenues of professional development and workforce engagement from within the walls of secure facilities.
It is possible to imagine a more connected and healed world. It is possible to create avenues that help us get there. Education in Action is a substantive step towards building a bridge between higher education in prison and meaningful employment outside of prison. This bridge is one that is built across walls and unnecessary divides. This bridge is one between communities. It is one of healing.
If you would like to learn more about the Education in Action initiative, please visit the landing page here . If you know of or represent an organization that might be interested in being an employer partner; if you know of or are a currently incarcerated student interested in engaging in meaningful employment; or, if you know of or represent a Department of Corrections who is interested in being part of creating a bridge of connection, please send them our way.
We will only create a future worth living if we do it together. Thinking, dreaming, imagining, and creating – together.
New Publications from the Field!
Check out two new books published this year from the field:
Unlocking Learning: International Perspectives on Education in Prison
Edited by Justin McDevitt and Mneesha Gellman
Countries around the world have disparate experiences with education in prison. For decades, the United States has been locked in a pattern of exceptionally high mass incarceration. Though education has proven to be an impactful intervention, its role and the level of support it receives vary widely. As a result, effective opportunities for incarcerated people to reroute their lives during and after incarceration remain diffuse and inefficient. This volume highlights unique contributions from the field of education in prison globally.
Higher Education and the Carceral State: Transforming Together
Edited by Annie Buckley
Higher Education and the Carceral State: Transforming Together explores the diversity of ways in which university faculty and students are intervening in the system of mass incarceration through the development of transformative arts and educational programs for students in correctional institutions.
Demonstrating the ways that higher education can intervene in and disrupt the deeply traumatic experience of incarceration and shift the embedded social-emotional cycles that lead to recidivism, this book is both inspiration and guide for those seeking to create and sustain programs as well as to educate students about the types of programs universities bring to prisons.
New Job Postings!
Check out the new job postings on the Alliance for Higher Education in Prison Job Board - https://www.higheredinprison.org/job-board
Free Minds Book Club & Writing Workshop - https://www.higheredinprison.org/jobs-board/free-minds-book-club-writin…
Hope College - https://www.higheredinprison.org/jobs-board/hope-college-hope-western-p…
Georgia Coalition for Higher Education in Prison - https://www.higheredinprison.org/jobs-board/georgia-coalition-for-highe…
Call for Manuscripts
📝 Call for Manuscripts: Exploring the Role of Higher Education in Prison and Returning People on Campuses and Communities from the Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities.
📚 This call for complete, full manuscripts is open to all authors who are engaged in the scholarly exploration of programs, initiatives, and/or research centers that implement support for returning community members or facilitate higher education in prison and its impact on campuses and communities.
Colby Justice Think Tank Criminal Code News
So proud of my Justice Think Tank colleagues Linda Small and Chandler Dugal for their op-ed piece that was published in The Bangor Daily News! Their cowritten article centers on the prong of our Criminal Code group's work that researched record sealing and expungement for formerly incarcerated people and proposed an implementation strategy for the State of Maine!
New Jobs and Events!
If you haven't checked them out lately, take a moment to see what's new on the Alliance's Job Board and Community Events page!
- Job Board - https://www.higheredinprison.org/job-board
- Community Events - https://www.higheredinprison.org/community-events
MIT: Writing the Code, Second Chance Hiring
MIT is holding an event to gather professors, students, policy makers, and members of the business community to discuss equitable hiring practices and the barriers that individuals from marginalized communities face in socioeconomic, professional arenas. This event is to discuss and improve public support for second chance hiring practices for formerly incarcerated individuals and will be featuring the story of Daniel Dart, MIT's first formerly incarcerated student at the Sloan School of Business.
"MIT Sloan EMBA student, Daniel Dart, EMBA '24, is a leader in Second Chance Hiring and is justice-impacted. We plan to highlight his experience while amplifying the issues related to fair chance hiring and how that impacts our community of industry and academic professionals."
If you're in the Boston area (or even if you're not and want to take a field trip!) this event should be a milestone for the inclusion of formerly incarcerated people in efforts to expand equitable access to opportunity.
Grant Opportunity: Pathway Home
The U.S. Department of Labor will be granting $52 million to support projects that advance pre-release job training and apprenticeship programs for incarcerated individuals.
These Pathway Home grants will be awarded to projects that provide incarcerated individuals with legal assistance, counseling, job search strategies and other foundational skills prior to release. These grants – ranging from $1 million to $4 million to each recipient – demonstrate the value of initiatives like Education in Action that close the gaps between higher education in prison and employment opportunities.
Learn more about how to apply and share this reentry opportunity with your networks: https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/eta/eta20240208-0
Alliance for Higher Education in Prison x Colby College Justice Think Tank
In 2023, the Alliance for Higher Education in Prison supported the Colby College Justice Think Tank, which brought together 12 remarkable scholars from all five Maine prisons to explore restorative justice alternatives. Their research, aimed at reforming Maine's legal system for emerging adults, has culminated in impactful policy papers and public presentations. Dive into the minds of these brilliant scholars and explore the pathways they've proposed for a more restorative future.
Check them out here: https://www.colby.edu/academics/departments-and-programs/colby-across-the-walls/justice-think-tank/
CUMU Call for Manuscripts
With a submission deadline of May 1, 2024, The Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities is soliciting manuscripts for their journal on the role of higher education in prison and returning citizens on campuses and communities. The purpose of this issue's theme is to gain insight into how higher education institutions address prison education, transition, and reentry for incarcerated students.
The topic suggestions for content are fairly broad, but all must include evidence-based theories or practice with supportive data.
Colorado becomes one of the first to employ an incarcerated professor
A new initiative at Adams State — one of the first of its kind in the country — focuses on employing incarcerated people with graduate degrees as college professors, rather than bringing in instructors from the outside. The program offered through the Alamosa-based university gives incarcerated graduates experience and training while helping to alleviate the staff shortages that can hinder prison education programs. https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2024/01/04/incarcerated-professor-teaches-college-classes-in-prison/
Open Campus: College on Death Row: ‘Y’all Aren’t Here to Be Rehabilitated’
This news article from Open Campus is a guest essay written by Lyle C. May, a prison journalist in North Carolina. In the essay, Mr. May writes about how gaining access to education on death row gave him the tools to fight back against policies that restricted that access.
*This week! Upcoming Community Events*
When you have a moment, check out the Community Events page at the Alliance! There are three really interesting events going on THIS WEEK! https://www.higheredinprison.org/community-events
Steps Your Campus Can Take to Support Justice-Involved Students
This fact sheet from the State University of New York (SUNY) Higher Education for the Justice-Involved (HEJI) program provides actionable steps that postsecondary education administrators can take to support justice-involved students on their campuses.
SUNY Road Map to Starting a College-in-Prison (CIP) Program
If your State University of New York (SUNY) campus is interested in finding ways to serve justice-involved students in your community, the following information may help you in planning and navigating critical conversations. We know everyone's path is different and some of these activities may occur simultaneously and/or on an ongoing basis.
Access, Success, and Challenges in College-In-Prison Programs within The State University of New York
This report from the State University of New York (SUNY) Higher Education for the Justice-Involved (HEJI) program links administrative data collected by SUNY and the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) between 2010 and 2020 to reveal student engagement and outcomes in SUNY-involved college-in-prison programs.
This report is one part of a SUNY initiative to expand and improve its services to incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people in New York. With funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, SUNY System Administration is working with its campuses to build a supportive community of college-in-prison programs, develop resources to strengthen the programs, ease pathways for formerly incarcerated students to continue
their education, and create a data system that reveals key features of the programs and their performance.
The research component of the initiative also includes interviews with college administrators, faculty, and formerly incarcerated students to understand how students view college-in-prison programs, the challenges colleges face in implementing their programs, including during the pandemic, and the ways SUNY can better support incarcerated and formerly incarcerated students. Although this report includes references to some interviews, forthcoming reports will offer a more complete summary of those findings.
OpenCampus: Pursuing a degree inside isn’t easy, but success is ‘so sweet’
This news article focuses on the experiences of Lyle C. May, a prison journalist in North Carolina. Lyle writes about how gaining access to education on death row gave him the tools to fight back against policies that restricted that access.
SUNY's Vision of Educational Equity for Incarcerated New Yorkers
This document outlines the State University of New York's (SUNY) commitment to educational equity for all incarcerated students in New York State correctional facilities.
"With the reinstatement of Pell and TAP funding, and in collaboration with the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) and other identifiable stakeholders, SUNY seeks to increase and expand incarcerated individuals access to quality post-secondary education, both during and after incarceration."
College Inside: A Newsletter about the Future of Postsecondary Education in Prisons (Full Archive)
Written by Open Campus staff reporter Charlotte West, this biweekly newsletter from Open Campus is about the future of postsecondary education in prisons. This online archive contains PDF versions of previous issues of the newsletter.
Open Campus: How an Illicit Cell Phone Helped Me Take College Courses from Prison
This news article from Open Campus describes the experiences of an incarcerated student using an illicit cell phone to take college courses from prison. The person interviewed is incarcerated in the South and currently works as a hospice volunteer and mentors justice-involved young adults. No identifying information is included in order to protect him from potential consequences for possessing a contraband cell phone.
Prison Education Faculty Recruitment Toolkit and Training Resource
This toolkit from the State University of New York (SUNY) Higher Education for the Justice-Involved (HEJI) program serves as a guide for administrators in recruiting and training staff for their prison education programs.
The first goal of this document is to help guide programs through developing, hiring, and training practices that can support quality programming inside the correctional facility. The second goal is to generate a larger conversation about what programs consider to be best practices and how hiring, training, and supporting faculty contribute to the overall goals of building and maintaining quality college-in-prison programming.
To that end, Part I of this toolkit is designed for program administrators who are developing or overseeing hiring for their college-in-prison program. It outlines the role of the professor in prison settings and identifies the qualities to look for in candidates applying to teach in prison.
Part II, which was created for both faculty and program administrators, speaks to training for faculty once they’ve been hired and ongoing professional development. It offers a set of best practices for faculty who are considering teaching in prison. These materials are created with the acknowledgment that programs need to develop their own unique processes and practices conducive to their campus settings and capacities, and thus there should be expected variation.
Open Campus: ‘There’s No Equality’ for Disabled Students in Prison
This news article from Open Campus examines how disabled students in prison have not only been denied access to extra supports, like extended testing time or having text read aloud to them, but also didn’t even know they might qualify.
Open Campus: ‘I Know How to Walk the Walk’ — the Power of Hiring a Formerly Incarcerated Student
This news article from Open Campus features an interview with Donnie Veal, a formerly-incarcerated student who recently found himself on the job market.
NPR: How a Prison Education Program Is Building Community on the Inside — and Out
In this radio segment from NPR and WBUR's Here & Now, Deepa Fernandes speaks with Jennifer Lackey, the founding director of the Northwestern Prison Education Program. This segment runs approximately 8 minutes and 50 seconds.
Reuters: For the First Time, U.S. Prisoners Graduate from Top University
This article from Reuters announces the graduation of the first class of incarcerated students from Northwestern University's Prison Education Program on November 15, 2023.
"Twenty years ago, some of these guys were in rival gangs, and here they are swapping poetry with each other and giving critical engagements on sociology assignments," said Professor Jennifer Lackey, the program's founding director. "The love and growth that we see in the community is really unlike anything I've experienced at the on-campus commencements."
Illinois Public Media: Illinois to Report for First Time How Many Prisoners Are Taking College Courses – and How Many Are Waiting for Access
This article from Illinois Public Media covers the passage of the Higher Education in Prison Act in the Illinois legislature.
The state will now provide annual public data on enrollment, demographics, and waitlists for higher education programs in Illinois prisons.
Open Campus: What Happens When Prison Tech Stops Working
This news article from Open Campus discusses the compounding issues of technology troubles inside prisons. When prison tech stops working, those inside are left with limited recourse.
Open Campus: California Inmates Depended on Community Colleges. What Happens When Their Prisons Close?
This news article from Open Campus discusses the impact of prison closures on incarcerated students.
As California closes three more prisons and downsizes six others, some prisoners aren’t ready to go. They are worried about the future of their education. California Governor Gavin Newsom is closing and downsizing prisons across the state, putting the future of over a thousand incarcerated students at risk. College administrators say they have few resources to help.
Open Campus: California Inmates Depended on Community Colleges. What Happens When Their Prisons Close?
This news article from Open Campus discusses the impact of prison closures on incarcerated students.
As California closes three more prisons and downsizes six others, some prisoners aren’t ready to go. They are worried about the future of their education. California Governor Gavin Newsom is closing and downsizing prisons across the state, putting the future of over a thousand incarcerated students at risk. College administrators say they have few resources to help.
Open Campus: Native Hawaiians Are Overrepresented in Prisons. Here’s How Cultural Education Could Help.
This news article from Open Campus discusses the potential affects of culturally-relevant content on Indigenous students.
Open Campus: Native Hawaiians Are Overrepresented in Prisons. Here’s How Cultural Education Could Help.
This news article from Open Campus discusses the potential affects of culturally-relevant content on Indigenous students.
Open Campus: Prison Education Programs Are Primed to Take Off in Mississippi. Here’s What One Class Looks Like.
This news article from Open Campus takes us inside a prison education program in the Mississippi Department of Corrections.
Open Campus: Prison Education Programs Are Primed to Take Off in Mississippi. Here’s What One Class Looks Like.
This news article from Open Campus takes us inside a prison education program in the Mississippi Department of Corrections.
Open Campus: They Saw the Demise of College in Prison. Thirty Years Later, It’s Coming Back.
In this news article from Open Campus, four formerly incarcerated people share their experiences with Pell Grants prior to 1994—when Congress eliminated access to federal financial aid for incarcerated students. Their stories have been edited for length and clarity.
Open Campus: Job-Hunting Isn’t Easy, Especially after Prison. San Quentin Is Trying to Change That.
This news article from Open Campus examines how the San Quentin Rehabilitation Center's Prison to Employment Connection (P2EC) program helps men learn how to put the work they've done inside into context for prospective employers. P2EC is a 14-week job-readiness training program for people who are within one year of a release date or have a scheduled parole board hearing in the next six months. The curriculum includes an assessment to help participants identify possible careers, workshops on identifying strengths and transferable skills, and résumé editing.
Open Campus: A Virtual Lifeline or a Digital Babysitter? What It’s Actually Like to Use Tablets in Prison
This news article from Open Campus examines the use of tablets in prison.
Open Campus: The Value of Hands-On Learning in Prison
This news article from Open Campus examines a pre-apprenticeship program in Washington State that introduces incarcerated women to the trades.
Best Practices for Building Post-Release Educational Pathways
These best practices from Jobs for the Future (JFF) can help those involved in prison education build post-release educational pathways for incarcerated students.
For many people who are incarcerated, postsecondary classes offered by the facility in which they’re serving their sentences represent a first step on an educational journey that is likely to continue after they are released—one that could ultimately lead to an industry-recognized credential, an associate’s or bachelor’s degree, or even a master’s degree or a PhD. To facilitate the process of moving from incarceration to on-campus or online classes, colleges and their partners must develop structures and programs that are intentionally designed to support people who are navigating this transition. This brief offers practitioner-informed recommendations from Rutgers University’s New Jersey Scholarship and Transformative Education in Prisons (NJ-STEP) initiative, the higher education in prison program at Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC) in Iowa, and Prison-to-Professionals (P2P) that can help colleges create pathways that honor and support students’ visions for reentering their communities and continuing their educations.
Best Practices for Building Post-Release Educational Pathways
These best practices from Jobs for the Future (JFF) can help those involved in prison education build post-release educational pathways for incarcerated students.
For many people who are incarcerated, postsecondary classes offered by the facility in which they’re serving their sentences represent a first step on an educational journey that is likely to continue after they are released—one that could ultimately lead to an industry-recognized credential, an associate’s or bachelor’s degree, or even a master’s degree or a PhD. To facilitate the process of moving from incarceration to on-campus or online classes, colleges and their partners must develop structures and programs that are intentionally designed to support people who are navigating this transition. This brief offers practitioner-informed recommendations from Rutgers University’s New Jersey Scholarship and Transformative Education in Prisons (NJ-STEP) initiative, the higher education in prison program at Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC) in Iowa, and Prison-to-Professionals (P2P) that can help colleges create pathways that honor and support students’ visions for reentering their communities and continuing their educations.
Understanding Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)
This resource from Jobs for the Future (JFF) can help students, advocates, and other stakeholders better understand the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).
FERPA is a federal law that protects the privacy of students’ education records. The term “education records” means those records that are (1) directly related to a student and (2) maintained by an educational agency or institution or by a party acting for the agency or institution. The law applies to all schools that receive funds under an applicable program of the U.S. Department of Education.
At the postsecondary level, FERPA affords “eligible students” the right to have access to their education records, the right to seek to have the records amended, and the right to have some control over the disclosure of information from the records.
Including Students Without Access to Pell: Strategies for Raising Flexible Funding
The information provided here from Jobs for the Future (JFF) is a snapshot of factors to consider when offering programs to students who are incarcerated and who are not eligible for Pell Grants. Universities and colleges are individually operated, and not all strategies are equally applicable.
Getting Ready for FAFSA Administration: Steps for Working With Financial Aid and Corrections
This resource from Jobs for the Future (JFF) is designed to help prison education programs, correctional agencies, and financial aid departments establish the critical partnerships necessary to effectively administer the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) to incarcerated students. Keep in mind that the details may vary depending on state and local context.
National Data Sources on Prison Education Programs and Students
This resource from Jobs for the Future (JFF) can help postsecondary institutions capitalize on existing national data sources to obtain information on prison education programs and students.
In this resource, overviews for the following data sources are provided:
- Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS)
- Federal Student Aid (FSA) Data
- Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) Survey of Incarcerated Adults
- Education Justice Tracker (EJT)
- National Student Clearinghouse (NSC)
- National Directory of Higher Education in Prison Programs
National Data Sources on Prison Education Programs and Students
This resource from Jobs for the Future (JFF) can help postsecondary institutions capitalize on existing national data sources to obtain information on prison education programs and students.
In this resource, overviews for the following data sources are provided:
- Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS)
- Federal Student Aid (FSA) Data
- Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) Survey of Incarcerated Adults
- Education Justice Tracker (EJT)
- National Student Clearinghouse (NSC)
- National Directory of Higher Education in Prison Programs
RealClearEducation: Colleges Can Do More Than Educate Incarcerated People. They Can Hire Them.
In this article from RealClearEducation, Rebecca Villarreal (senior director at Jobs for the Future) makes the case for prison education programs to hire more alumni upon release.
By the summer of 2023, about 700,000 incarcerated people will be eligible for the federal Pell Grant, gaining access to a critical form of college financial aid for the first time in nearly 30 years. When the 1994 Crime Bill banned Pell for imprisoned individuals, the number of higher-education prison programs rapidly dwindled from 1,500 to just eight. With Pell back on the table, institutions are once again designing degree programs for prisoners. But colleges and universities can do more to ensure that the incarcerated are set up for success after their release: they can hire them.
RealClearEducation: Colleges Can Do More Than Educate Incarcerated People. They Can Hire Them.
In this article from RealClearEducation, Rebecca Villarreal (senior director at Jobs for the Future) makes the case for prison education programs to hire more alumni upon release.
By the summer of 2023, about 700,000 incarcerated people will be eligible for the federal Pell Grant, gaining access to a critical form of college financial aid for the first time in nearly 30 years. When the 1994 Crime Bill banned Pell for imprisoned individuals, the number of higher-education prison programs rapidly dwindled from 1,500 to just eight. With Pell back on the table, institutions are once again designing degree programs for prisoners. But colleges and universities can do more to ensure that the incarcerated are set up for success after their release: they can hire them.
College Inside: A Newsletter about the Future of Postsecondary Education in Prisons (October 2023 Edition)
A biweekly newsletter from Open Campus about the future of postsecondary education in prisons. This edition focuses on technology in prisons.
Open Campus: ‘We Need More High-Impact Learning Practices in Prison’
This news article from Open Campus highlights key takeaways from the 2023 National Conference for Higher Education in Prison (NCHEP).
