The thesis of my book, Prisons of Creativity: Artistic Innovation During Incarceration (Routledge, 2025), is that the Constitution's intellectual property clause calls for promoting innovation by all people, including the incarcerated, to benefit the nation. The book proposes a shift from exploiting prison labor to supporting creativity among those who opt in, protecting their intellectual property rights, and making their creative products in literature, the visual arts,  music, drama, and other expressive products available to the public. The size of the prison population is equivalent to the fifth largest city, which should be included in the nation's innovative ecosystem, especially in a way that can benefit corrections administrators, creators in prison, and society. The book opens with a retrospective on creativity in prison, highlights current creators, and lays out the supply and demand landscape of carceral creativity. I would very much welcome further discussion. The book is on Amazon and available from Routledge using the attached discount. 

The New England Prison Education Collaborative (NEPEC), led by the New England Board of Higher Education (NEBHE), and funded by Ascendium Education Group, will release the Request for Proposals (RFP) for its inaugural Accelerator Grants on Wednesday, April 30, 2025.

Five Accelerator Grants will be awarded to eligible higher education institutions located across the New England states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont to increase Pell-eligible prison education programming in their state. 

Grant recipients will develop or expand programs, build partnerships, increase access to Pell funding, and support reentry efforts for students transitioning back to campus and home. Applicants are asked to submit proposals for $100,000 of funding for use over 12 months. Grant applications will be due on Friday, June 6, 2025.   

To learn more, access the full RFP, and register for the webinar, visit: https://nebhe.org/higher-education-in-prison/our-work/higher-education-engagement/accelerator-grants-rfp-year-1/. 

Position: Education in Action Intern 

Time Commitment: 

• Up to 25 hours a week (Minimum of 5 hours of virtual meetings and coworking and up to 20 hours of independent work)
• 6-month commitment; with an option to extend an additional 6 months   

Anticipated Annual Salary Range: $20–$25/hour; up to 25 hours/week

Introduction 

The Alliance for Higher Education in Prison is seeking an intern who is incarcerated to support the Identifying and Scaling Higher Education in Program (HEP) Programmatic Resources Initiative. 

The Alliance for Higher Education in Prison supports the expansion of quality higher education in prison and we are committed to creating opportunities for people who are incarcerated to apply their education, access professional networking opportunities, and contribute meaningfully to the field of higher education in prison.

About the Initiative

To further this mission, the Alliance seeks an Education in Action Intern to support our role in the Identifying and Scaling Higher Education in Prison (HEP) Programmatic Resources Initiative managed by the American Institutes for Research. This initiative aims to identify, refine, and scale HEP programmatic resources that address the most pressing HEP program design and implementation needs.

The initiative will support a cohort of HEP program grantees in refining and scaling resources by:

• Leading a grantee community of practice,
• Delivering customized grantee coaching, and
• Supporting grantees in generating and using evidence in the continuous improvement of their resources.

Grantees were selected through a robust proposal process seeking resources and the potential scalability of those resources to other HEP programs. Each grantee demonstrates a commitment to collaboration, continuous improvement, and field-building.

About the Role

The intern will support the HEP project implementation through a variety of tasks related to research, data management and analysis, internal and external communication, and project operations.  

The intern should be available up to 25 hours a week. A typical week includes 5–10 hours of calls/virtual meetings and up to 15–20 hours working on specific project tasks. Meeting time and work time distribution may vary from week to week depending upon work in progress, project needs, schedule availability, and supports needed. 

The selected candidate will receive guidance and support in their work areas through direct supervision, coworking sessions, and biweekly coaching check-ins.

Responsibilities

• Project administrative support 
  • Attend weekly team meetings, project meetings, and webinars.
  • Take accurate meeting notes and prepare meeting summaries in alignment with project management processes and document formats. 
• Research and analysis 
  • Conduct literature and research review and analysis on key HEP topics identified by grantees. 
  • Support management of the Resource Community for Higher Education in Prison (RCHEP) database by organizing, tagging, and summarizing content. 
• Content development and reporting  
  • Inform HEP project deliverables aiming to increase access to technology, education, and work opportunities in prison. 
  • Track experiences and share lessons learned through ongoing reporting and discussion.

Required Access & Qualifications 

• Be incarcerated at a state facility (for example not in halfway house, community supervision, work release) with at least one year remaining on the applicant’s sentence    
• Enrollment in, completion of, or affiliation with a Higher Education in Prison Program
• Allowed to receive compensation 
• Identified HEP liaison who will coordinate initial logistics and communications between corrections and any other party necessary to the intern’s participation
• Access to a computer with Microsoft Office and/or Google Suite, the internet, and search engines,* and Zoom or another teleconferencing tool 

*Hiring entity recognizes that some websites may be blocked but seeks candidate at facility with existing processes to request access or with reasonable capacity to conduct research.

Preferred Qualifications 

• Associate’s degree 
• Practical computer and technology tool knowledge (Google Suite, Canva, Microsoft Office, Adobe Acrobat, Zoom)
• Speaks and writes clearly, concisely, and to the point; engages others in open and forthright conversation
• Organizes own efforts to improve productivity and quality
• Readily adapts own approach and behavior to the requirements of the situation
• Ability to self-motivate and work in a virtual environment 
• Researches and analyzes data, information, and problems systematically and thoughtfully
• Works with others in pursuit of shared goals

Apply for this role by submitting: 

• A cover letter explaining: 
  • Applicant’s specific interest in this position and readiness to participate fully in the role
  • A description of the applicant’s ability to meet the technology access requirements
  • The contact information of the HEP liaison with whom the applicant will work to coordinate access. 
• A resume highlighting relevant: 
  • Work experience
  • Educational background
  • Volunteer activities
  • Certifications, training, and other applicable qualifications

Submit all application materials to EiA@higheredinprison.org 

Rockwood Leadership Institute, in partnership with Ascendium, is excited to announce that applications for the second cohort of the Fellowship for Leaders in Higher Education in Prison are now open! Full tuition and accommodations will be covered by Rockwood and fellows will receive a $5,000 stipend for completing the fellowship, along with $4,000 in training-related expense reimbursements.

For all the details, including the Fellowship programming and timeline, purpose, goals, and more, see our Applicant Program Information & FAQ.

Who can apply? 
This Fellowship is for formerly incarcerated leaders working in the Higher Ed in Prison field. Leaders at non-profit organizations, Universities and colleges, government agencies, foundations, state coalitions, etc. are all welcome to apply.

This training is limited to 24 participants who:

• Are formerly incarcerated leaders or decision makers in the Higher Education in Prison field, preferably those with Higher Education programming experience while incarcerated;
• Demonstrate personal/professional readiness to step out of their comfort zone and learn new leadership skills;
• Contribute to creating a cohort that is diverse in terms of demographics (such as race, gender identity, and sexual orientation), geography, lived experiences, and organizational strategy;
• Commit to full participation in the year-long fellowship, including three in-person retreats, completing any required pre-session work and post-session evaluations.

When are the in-person sessions? 

• Session 1: September 22-26, 2025, Wisconsin
• Session 2: December 1-5, 2025, California
• Session 3: March 16-20, 2026, New York
  Fellows must be able to attend all three in-person sessions in order to participate.

Additional Program Offerings

• Virtual orientation prior to Session 1.
• Two virtual Community Calls will support participants’ relationship building and learning outside of the structured training session time.
• Two virtual Webinars will support participants in learning concrete skills.
• Individual professional coaching. Each participant will have access to up to four free coaching sessions ​​with a Rockwood trainer during the program.

Applications will close May 16 and select applicants will be invited to interview in May and June.  

Questions? Email Andrea at andrea@rockwoodleadership.org 

Colleagues,

Please share this opening with your channels. Minneapolis College, one of the core members of the TREC Partnership (alongside Metro State University), is searching for a reentry navigator to work with a growing community of phenomenal students.

https://minnstate.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/Minnesota_State_Careers/j…

Warmly,

Travis

Travis Sands, PhD

Executive Director, TREC Program

Transformation & Reentry Through Education & Community

College of Interdisciplinary & Individualized Studies

Metro State University

NASFAA 2nd Annual PEP Convening

Aligning Efforts: Navigating the Intersection of Student Services and Prison Education

Grand Hyatt Washington - Washington, DC

Wednesday, June 4, 3:30 p.m. ET through Saturday, June 7, 2025, 12:00 p.m. ET

The National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA) will host its second annual Prison Education Program (PEP) Convening in June. This in-person convening,  Aligning Efforts: Navigating the Intersection of Student Services and Prison Education, will focus on the administration of higher education programs in prison and the critical services they provide to incarcerated students.

Bringing together financial aid administrators (FAAs), PEP administrators, and professionals from other student services roles, this convening will explore strategic and practical approaches to best support college students who are incarcerated.

Over four days, attendees will engage with a diverse group of experts, including practitioners, impacted students who are field experts, educators, correctional oversight leaders, accreditation specialists, researchers, and national leaders in prison education and student services. The program will provide PEP administrators with a deeper understanding of the statutory responsibilities and federal compliance requirements managed by FAAs and other student services professionals. Meanwhile, college student services teams will gain valuable insight into the challenges of working in a prison environment, the extraordinary complexities faced by incarcerated students, and the barriers they encounter when transitioning to campus life after confinement. 

Sessions will also cover the PEP application process, organizing successful student orientation sessions, disability services responsibilities, budgets, and how to properly manage data privacy and reporting.

As the approval process for PEPs accelerates, 2025 will be a pivotal year for their introduction and expansion. This convening aims to foster collaboration between those administering PEPs and those overseeing student services, bridging gaps in understanding and strengthening support systems for incarcerated students.

Selected colleges will receive full coverage for registration and travel costs. 

Colleges interested in participating can apply before April 16, 2025 using this link PEP Convening Application. If you do not have a NASFAA account, you will be asked to register. You do not need to be a NASFAA member to create an account.

For more information, please contact pep@nasfaa.org.

This work is generously sponsored by a grant from Ascendium Education Group.

Linked Here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VBLu6ncvY0OWyWCyHjxnWQRNZ4z4TP2W/view

• Attached below

Grand Hyatt Washington - Washington, DC
Wednesday, June 4, 3:30 p.m. ET through Saturday, June 7, 2025, 12:00 p.m. ET

Join us this summer in Washington, D.C., for the Second Annual Prison Education Program (PEP) Convening, hosted by The National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA). This in-person convening will focus on the administration of higher education programs in prison and the critical services they provide to incarcerated students.

Bringing together financial aid administrators (FAAs), PEP administrators, and professionals from other student services roles, this convening will explore strategic and practical approaches to best support college students who are incarcerated.

Over four days, attendees will engage with a diverse group of experts, including practitioners, impacted students who are field experts, educators, correctional oversight leaders, accreditation specialists, researchers, and national leaders in prison education and student services. The program will provide PEP administrators with a deeper understanding of the statutory responsibilities and federal compliance requirements managed by FAAs and other student services professionals. Meanwhile, college student services teams will gain valuable insight into the challenges of working in a prison environment, the extraordinary complexities faced by incarcerated students, and the barriers they encounter when transitioning to campus life after confinement. 

Sessions will also cover the PEP application process, organizing successful student orientation sessions, disability services responsibilities, budgets, and how to properly manage data privacy and reporting.

As the approval process for PEPs accelerates, 2025 will be a pivotal year for their introduction and expansion. This convening aims to foster collaboration between those administering PEPs and those overseeing student services, bridging gaps in understanding and strengthening support systems for incarcerated students.

Applications to attend this convening will be available soon. Through the generous support from Ascendium Education Group, selected colleges will receive full coverage for registration and travel costs. 

Stay tuned for more details!

The New England Prison Education Collaborative is preparing to host the first of our quarterly virtual workshops in March, “Conducting a Higher Education in Prison Needs Analysis: Varied Approaches and Perspectives.”  

Date and Time: March 19th, 2025, from 3:00- 4:30 PM EST. 

Registration Link:  https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/ev/reg/d3dzhr5 

Location: Zoom  

Event Details 

This event aims to equip stakeholders – including Departments of Corrections, State Higher Education Executive Officers, program providers, and leaders with lived experience with the tools and knowledge needed to conduct a needs analysis and gauge barriers to increasing access to higher education in prison and improving student success.   

While open to the public, we are structuring these quarterly workshops so that they are particularly relevant to state stakeholders engaged in NEPEC’s state strategic planning initiative, which runs in year-long cycles. This aligns with one of NEPEC’s overarching goals: to support all New England states in developing state strategic plans aimed at expanding the quality and quantity of prison education program portfolios—and, if desired, pathways to vocational education—over the next five years. In this way, our quarterly workshops will serve as capacity-building sessions for states in the region: both those who are currently undergoing our state strategic planning process and those who plan to do so in the future. 

Expert Panelists – March 2025 

This event will feature the following speakers: 

• Haley Shoaf, Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director at Unlocked Labs 
• Nathan Barrett, Vice President of Programs and Development at the Coleridge Initiative 
• Alex Monday, Researcher, Educational Transformation at Ithaka S+R 
• Ess Pokornowski, Program Manager, Justice Initiatives at Ithaka S+R 

 A substantial portion of the session will be dedicated to open discussion, allowing attendees to ask critical questions and receive targeted technical assistance. We believe this is an essential conversation for advancing higher education in prison and we hope to see you there. 

If you’re unable to attend, we would be grateful if you could engage with and reshare our LinkedIn post on the event to help spread the word. 

If you have any questions or need additional details, please don’t hesitate to reach out to nepec@nebhe.org. We hope to see you there. 

We are looking forward to coming together this Saturday to celebrate the writing and art of those impacted by the criminal legal system. 

Please join us at the Syracuse Central Library or via Zoom this Saturday at noon to hear this year's authors and editors present their work. Along with celebrating the publication of Mend, we'll be celebrating the publication of render, a new publication exploring the lives and creative works of impacted artists produced by Katherine Nikolau, a Writing and Rhetoric major who graduated in December. render was her Distinction project and supported by The SOURCE.

Saturday, February 15

noon-1:30 p.m. ET

Syracuse Central Library, Community Room

447 S. Salina St., Syracuse, NY 13202 and via Zoom

This event will include a light lunch. 

To register via Zoom: https://syracuseuniversity.zoom.us/j/96618136093

Project Mend is made possible through collaboration with the Center for Community Alternatives and through an HNY Post-Incarceration Humanities Partnership, which is generously supported by the Mellon Foundation. Additionally, the project has been supported at Syracuse University by the Engaged Humanities Network, the Humanities Center, the SOURCE, Syracuse University Libraries, and the Department of Writing Studies, Rhetoric, and Composition. For accommodations or more information, contact Patrick W. Berry at pwberry@syr.edu by February 11. surface.syr.edu/mend  |  project-mend.net

I work at Harrisburg Area Community College (HACC), the largest community college in Pennsylvania. This semester, we started a PEP that offers a liberal arts degree inside Camp Hill State Prison, which is in our service area. All degrees at our institution require students to take a First-Year Seminar (FYS) course. Our current courses do not meet the needs (and also may not be appropriate- respecting the experiences of our incarcerated scholars). I am wondering if any college currently offers a FYS for this population of students.

Thank you.

Connie Ogle

cmogle@hacc.edu

The Freedom Education Project Puget Sound (FEPPS), with generous support from the Mellon Foundation, is forming a national consortium of higher education in prison programs that operate in prisons designated for women. 

The Womxn’s Higher Education in Prison Consortium (WHEP) is a collaborative initiative designed to advance equity in higher education for incarcerated women, transgender, and gender-nonconforming individuals. This groundbreaking effort brings together programs operating in women-designated prisons to address shared challenges, foster innovation, and advocate for systemic change.

We are grateful to have Christina Dawkins, founder of A4Abolitionist, as the facilitator of this important work. Christina brings years of experience teaching in prisons, building collaborative networks, and supporting equitable practices in higher education in prison. Her leadership will help guide the consortium as we collectively work toward meaningful and sustainable change.

Our Goals

This three-year initiative seeks to:

• Foster Collaboration: Connect 10 programs operating in women-designated prisons to share resources, ideas, and best practices.
• Support Leadership: Launch a Leadership Institute for incarcerated students to build skills in leadership, professional development, and community engagement.
• Expand Resources: Develop a shared database and curriculum tailored to the needs of students in women-designated prisons.
• Advocate for Equity: Address systemic disparities in funding and policy to better support education and reentry for students in women-designated prisons.

These goals reflect our belief in the power of collective effort and the transformative potential of education, and we are humbled to play a part in supporting this community.

Join Us 

We invite higher education in prison programs operating in prisons designated for women to apply for membership in this groundbreaking consortium. 

Inaugural members will:

• Collaborate with peers nationwide to shape the consortium’s mission, vision, and values.
• Share resources, strategies, and insights to address unique challenges in women’s-designated prisons.
• Have the opportunity to participate in collaborative research, retreats, site visits, and workshops. 
• Receive $10,000 for their HEP program’s participation and contributions.

Eligibility

Membership is open to womxn’s HEP programs to put forward one representative to serve in the consortium. Representatives must be leaders in their HEP program in a women-designated prison.

Application Details

For more information and to apply, please visit https://forms.gle/cJfJ3GU99XcWpz6W6. Applications are due by February 28, 2025. To learn more about eligibility and selection criteria, click here.  For questions, please email whep@fepps.org. 

A New Path: A Guide to the Challenges and Opportunities After Deportation is a guide for people who live in the United States with the threat of deportation. This guide includes information on topics such as 

• Know your rights
• Planning for possible deportation
• What to expect with detention and deportation
• How to connect with resources in your home country
• Employment options
• Building relationships 

             and much more! 

Please help share this resource in your community. Download the full guide in English or Spanish, or individual chapters here: https://reentryillinois.net/reentry-guides/#new-path

Request hard copies here: https://educationjustice.jotform.com/222332910685050 

EJP will send this resource for free to anyone who is currently incarcerated or detained.  For more information, please contact EJP’s Reentry Resource Program at reentry@educationjustice.net or by calling 217-333-1159.

Title: Completing the PEP Application and the E-App Process

Date: January 28, 2025
Time: 2:00 PM ET
Duration: 75 minutes
Price: Free

When Partner Connect and the E-App changed at the beginning of 2024, schools discovered they would need to add some unanticipated details to their application the first time they did a submission after that. And when the process and documentation to apply to be a Prison Education Program (PEP) via the E-App changed in the fall of 2024, it left schools with some questions about how to prepare before they do the actual application.

This webinar will share some real-life experiences about the first time a college goes through the E-App after the changes in 2024, focusing on what general information to have prepared, as well as the new PEP attachments and questions.

Speakers:

Sheila Meiman – Prison Education Specialist – NASFAA
Felipe Leal – Director of Financial Aid – Lee College
Donna Zuniga – Associate Vice President – Lee College Huntsville Center

NASFAA members, click here to register:
https://www.nasfaa.org/pep_eapp_jan25

General admission participants, click here to register:
https://event.on24.com/wcc/r/4832895/F5368BD6F544BA6C47C538300B6EBB3A

Contact us at pep@nasfaa.org if you have any questions.

This work is generously funded by a grant from Ascendium Education Group.

Hello all, 

Welcome to the HEP Grantee RCHEP group. You can use this space to post questions; share insights, resources, and opportunities; and collaborate!

Feel free to (re)introduce yourself by replying to this post. I look forward to continuing the conversations that we started in Montgomery.

Warm regards, 
Corinne Kannenberg
Communications Director
Alliance for Higher Education in Prison

Hello, I'm looking for opportunities to teach classes in prison, possibly in the states of North Carolina or Georgia. A little background about me: I have a PhD in English with a specialization in American Literature from Claremont University, and I've taught in the English Department at Auburn University in Alabama for the past 25 years. I am also a novelist with five published books. During the past several summers, I have taught American literature and creative writing classes with Alabama Prison Arts and Education Program and have developed a passion for teaching people subjected to incarceration. I will be retiring from Auburn University in May and I plan on relocating in the next couple of years, possibly to North Carolina or Georgia, although I haven't ruled out other states. In choosing where to relocate, one of my criteria is the opportunity to continue teaching students who are incarcerated. I will not be looking for a full-time position, but the ability to teach one or two classes a semester in creative writing or literature. I was wanting to talk to anyone involved in a program in either North Carolina or Georgia about what teaching opportunities their program may have. I would appreciate any information.