NEW YORK - Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program (Poughkeepsie)

Vassar professors:
Mary Shanley

Eileen Leonard
eileonard@vassar.edu

The Inside-Out Program at Taconic is coordinated through Hudson Link for Higher Education in Prison

Population Served: Incarcerated women Taconic Correctional Facility for Women and Vassar students

Program Description: The two professors, along with 10 Vassar students, traveled from Poughkeepsie to the medium security women’s prison in Bedford Hills, Westchester County, once a week during the spring 2009 semester to join with 12 incarcerated students for a two-and-a-half hour class.

Unique Features: The course marks the first time that the DOCS in New York State has permitted a mixed classroom of traditional college students with the incarcerated as part of a curriculum for college credit.