Schools Offering College Courses to Inmates - Oregon

Program Website: http://capstone.unst.pdx.edu/courses/inside-out-coffee-creek-prison-exchange-program

Contacts: Julie Kopett, Director of Education, Julie.G.Kopet@doc.state.or.us; Amy Spring, Assistant Director of Community-University Partnerships, springa@pdx.edu

Program Description: The Inside-Out Capstone course provides an opportunity for a small group of students from Portland State University and a group of residents from Coffee Creek Correctional facility to exchange perceptions about crime, justice, and how societal structures and culture define crime and justice. The course is called “Inside-Out Prison Exchange.” This Capstone course provides an opportunity for a small group of students from PSU and a group of residents from Coffee Creek Correctional facility to exchange perceptions about crime, justice, and the ways in which marginalized communities are affected by public policy. It is a chance for participants to gain a deeper understanding of how income, communities of color are affected by incarceration policies in Oregon and the US. This will be accomplished by marrying theoretical knowledge and practical experiences in weekly meetings extended throughout the term.

Degrees Offered: N/A

Programs Offered: This course is held at Coffee Creek Correctional Facility. The class will complete a project with inside and outside students that will help enhance the lives of those who live at Coffee Creek. The project topic varies every year.

Unique Features: N/A

Headquarters: Wilsonville, OR

Correctional Facilities Served: Coffee Creek Correctional Facility

Population Served: People who are incarcerated (“inside” students) and students from Portland State University (“outside students”) (equal numbers of each in every class)

Number of Students: 15 incarcerated students and 15 students from Portland State University per class

Graduates to Date: N/A

Year Founded: N/A

Founders: Lori Pompa (founder of Inside-Out model)

College/University/Organization Partnerships: Portland State University

Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program (Salem, Oregon State University)

Program Website: http://oregonstate-insideout.org/home

Contacts: osu_insideout@rocketmail.com

Program Description: Inside Out is a program that began in 1997 with a select group of Pennsylvania incarcerated individuals and students who had the common goal of studying crime, justice and social issues that affect society at large. Since then it has expanded and through the help of Professor Michelle Inderbitzen the program has made its way to Oregon State University. The goal of Inside Out at OSU is first and foremost to exchange ideas and perceptions and gain a deeper knowledge of crime, the criminal justice system, corrections and imprisonment. Inside Out at OSU examine sociological theories and apply them to the criminal justice system as it stands.

Degrees Offered: N/A

Programs Offered: N/A

Unique Features: N/A

Headquarters: Salem, OR

Correctional Facilities Served: Oregon State Penitentiary

Population Served: People who are incarcerated (“inside” students) and students from Oregon State University (“outside students”) (equal numbers of each in every class)

Number of Students: N/A

Graduates to Date: N/A

Year Founded: N/A

Founders: Lori Pompa (founder of Inside-Out model)

College/University/Organization Partnerships: Oregon State University

Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program (Salem, University of Oregon)

Program Website: http://honors.uoregon.edu/story/inside-out-prison-exchange-program

Contacts: Steven Shankman, Professor of English and Classics, shankman@uoregon.edu

Program Description: Since 2007, University of Oregon (UO) Professor Steven Shankman has taught three Inside-Out Classes through the Clark Honors College (CHC) at the Oregon State Penitentiary. Courses are taught in an integrated classroom with outside students (from the Honors College) and inside students (who are incarcerated at Oregon State Penitentiary). Students study course materials together, and participate in dialogue about the texts and the larger questions of social justice and social inequalities. Since then, more than sixty CHC students have participated in Inside-Out classes at the Oregon State Penitentiary. Past participants call this the most transformative experience they have had at the UO.

Degrees Offered: Degrees offered through the University of Oregon and Chemeketa Community College

Programs Offered: Many of the courses taught through the UO have been literature classes, highlighting the works of Emmanuel Levinas, Miguel de Cervantes, and Fyodor Dostoevsky. Curriculum expansions include the addition of film studies, sociology, and conflict resolution courses.

Unique Features: In spring 2010, the CHC published Turned Inside-Out, a magazine that features student essays and artistic expressions examining the texts studied during the CHC’s first three years of Inside-Out classes at OSP. The publication has been distributed to Inside-Out programs nationwide in hopes of inspiring similar publications at many other correctional institutions.

Headquarters: Salem, OR

Correctional Facilities Served: Oregon State Penitentiary

Population Served: People who are incarcerated (“inside” students) and students from Oregon colleges/universities (“outside students”) (equal numbers of each in every class)

Number of Students: N/A

Graduates to Date: N/A

Year Founded: 2007 (University of Oregon - Clark Honors College adopted model)

Founders: Lori Pompa (founder of Inside-Out model)

College/University/Organization Partnerships: University of Oregon

College Inside

Contacts:
Nancy Green, Director of Corrections Education, nancy.green@chemeketa.edu, 503.399.5050

Program Description: The College Inside program is a degree program designed to allow incarcerated students to obtain a two-year college degree that can transfer to a four year university with a focus on general studies, Business or Automotive Technology. College Inside allows students to be in control of their own educational and employment future. The program requires students to think and plan for the future, outside of prison. The program is not just something to do while in prison. It requires effort, responsibility, drive, and commitment.

It creates change in thinking patterns for incarcerated students and facilitates a growth toward responsible and accountable community participation.

College Inside, through education, provides opportunity. The benefits of this opportunity are noteworthy and shared by all members of the community.

Degrees Offered: Associate of Arts Oregon Transfer, Associates of Science - Business, Associates of Applied Science - Automotive

Programs Offered: Courses leading to an Associates of Arts Oregon Transfer degree, Associates of Science Business degree, and Associates of Applied Science degree (automotive) - including math, writing, science, communication, psychology, history, political science, art, foreign, language, health, etc.

Unique Features: The College Inside program is unique because it is a very successful degree program inside three local area correctional facilities. The program has been carefully designed to ensure that the academic needs of the students are met in a timely manner so that they may graduate prior to releasing from prison.

All of the classes are taught by qualified college professors and are conducted with the same high level of expectation and academic performance as a regular campus class.

College Inside’s high standards/expectations for behavior, academic performance, and commitment ensure it has a very low drop out rate, very high graduation rate, and outstanding performance with 95% of the students maintaining a B average, and an overall average GPA of 3.5.

Headquarters: OR

Correctional Facilities Served: Oregon State Penitentiary, Oregon State Correctional Institution, Mill Creek Correctional Facility

Population Served: Incarcerated individuals from designated institutions with less than five years left on their sentence, a high school diploma or equivalency, and 18 months of clear conduct. Those meeting the education and clear conduct requirement that have outside funding or can self-pay also enroll in the program.

Number of Students: Total of over 100 students

Graduates to Date: 27

Year Founded: 2007

Founders: Initiated by anonymous donor; founding managed by Nancy Green

College/University/Organization Partnerships: Chemeketa Community College

Funding: An anonymous donor primarily supports College Inside and annually renews his funding commitment. Chemeketa staff also donate to the program through the college’s Foundation Office. For 10-11 a grant funding youth was available through the federal government federal funding ended as a result of budget cuts).