Purpose and History
The “Higher Education in Prison” email listserv was created Oct. 12, 2010 with less than 50 subscribers from across the United States to connect and support the higher education in prison community. In the years since its inception, the reach of the listserv has expanded beyond national borders and now counts close to 1,800 members. Rob Scott, the founding moderator, oversaw this growth for more than a decade and in recent years, he welcomed Lisette Hughes as co-moderator. In 2023, Rob and Lisette began the process of transitioning listserv moderation duties to the Alliance for Higher Education in Prison.
In 2021, guidelines were developed to facilitate moderation that restricted listserv conversations to announcements of events, news, and opportunities. The community guidelines listed below are a continuation of previous practice and criteria for approval remains the same.
Community Guidelines
The Higher Ed in Prison Listserv is a space to share announcements of news, events, and opportunities directly related to the field of higher education in prison.
Community members agree to use humanizing, people-first language when engaging on the listserv. Learn about our language guidelines.
If community members agree not to reply directly to messages sent through the listserv. Messages that are not announcements of news, events or opportunities will not be approved. We encourage community members to reply directly to the email address of the sender if they want to discuss a listserv message.
Only send messages that are relevant to the field at large, as this group includes thousands of members.
Do not share messages on behalf of another person who is able to join the group and post themselves. Posting on behalf of those who are currently incarcerated or those who without internet access is permitted.
Please include your full name, email address, and location in your email. (This can be done through a signature block or elsewhere in the body of the email.) Although your name may appear in the header for most people, as messages get forwarded, that information may get lost.
- Clearly state the topic of your email in your subject line. This will help members organize their emails and facilitate navigation of archived messages.
How to Subscribe
Subscribe to the listserv by filling out this form.
Managing your subscription:
- Sign into your Google Group at https://groups.google.com/.
- To stay in the group, but change the frequency that you receive emails:
- Find the column labeled “Subscription” and choose the email frequency that fits your needs.
- To leave the group, click the “leave group” icon on the far right of the row corresponding to this group.
Learn more about managing your Google Group subscriptions.
How to Post
- Make sure that you are subscribed to the listserv! Only those who are subscribed can submit messages for posting. (To check, you can sign into your Google Group at https://groups.google.com/.)
- Draft your message in an email according to the guidelines above. Include the subject line that you would like all listserv members to see.
- Email your post to prison-ed@googlegroups.com.
Your post will be submitted for moderator review before it gets approved and sent to listserv subscribers.
Questions? Reach out to us at listserv@higheredinprison.org.
