Roundtable: Delivering Bachelor’s Degree Programs in Prisons: Reflections on Successes and Challenges

Session Submission Type: Roundtable Session

Abstract/Description

This roundtable brings together academics from public institutions of higher education in California and Ohio to discuss their experiences of implementing Bachelor’s degree programs in prisons. Discussants will report on progress and challenges encountered since the ASC meeting in 2022. Topics for discussion include ongoing navigation of technological access for students, maintaining academic freedom, and funding. The discussants will also address generating symmetry between campus-based and prison-based programs in regards to such matters as access to resources and adherence to university procedures and policies. The preparation of students for transfer to a campus upon release will also be discussed, with particular reference to Project Rebound, the support program for formerly incarcerated students in the California State University. The discussants will consider the geographical, political, and fiscal contexts in which they are operating and will reflect upon partnering with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.

Sub Unit

• Area XIV. Roundtables

Chair

• Emma Hughes, California State University, Fresno

Discussants

• Valerie Jenness, University of California, Irvine

• Trish Morris, California State University, Sacramento

• Kristenne M. Robison, Kent State University

• Monica Summers, California State University, Fresno