Stetson prison education program receives grant to grow

July 02--More men incarcerated at Tomoka Correctional Institution will be able to take college courses starting this fall because of a grant awarded to the Stetson University Community Education Project.

This academic year 20 students will be able to take courses, and credit, not previously an option, will be offered for nondegree seeking courses, said Melinda Hall, assistant professor of philosophy.

For the next three years, the Laughing Gull Foundation will give the program $70,000 per year to go toward hiring a project coordinator (who will tutor imprisoned students and act as the liaison with the Department of Corrections), adding a computer lab, textbooks and other school supplies, said Pamela Cappas-Toro, assistant professor of world languages and cultures. The grant money also will help support students' emerging scholarship and creative course projects.

Stetson President Wendy Libby, who has been a guest lecturer at the institution, said teaching at the prison squarely fits the university's mission.

"That our faculty have been so enormously supportive underscores how clearly this work aligns with Stetson's values," Libby said.

In 2015 Cappas-Toro founded the program with her husband, Andrew Eisen, who works as an adjunct professor of history, and Jelena Petrovic, an assistant professor of communication and media studies. Hall became one of the co-directors the following year.

As graduate students, Cappas-Toro and Eisen were involved in a similar program at the University of Illinois.

Small, incremental growth will ensure the program's quality, Eisen said.

"We're able to draw on the expertise and the willingness and dedication of faculty members who have from day one helped us build this program, all as volunteers," Eisen said.

Since the Stetson program's founding, the prison has hosted more than 25 professors who have taught classes, led workshops and given lectures, according to a news release.

Plans for this fall semester include courses on American history and the philosophy of law as well as guest lectures and workshops, Hall said.

Subjects previously taught at Tomoka include: history, Spanish, philosophy, mathematics, communication, computer science and English.

During the second year funded by the grant, the number of students will grow to 30, Hall said.

Incarcerated men interested in participating in the program are required to have their GED, Hall said. Written applications and entrance essays also are considered in the selection process.

A 2014 study published by RAND Corporation on the effectiveness of correctional education found such programs are a cost-effective way to reduce recidivism, and inmates who participated in correctional education had a better chance of getting a job upon their release.

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