Workgroups

Advocacy
The Advocacy Workgroup of NY-CHEP provides information to help college-in-prison programs offer high quality education to incarcerated students. We collaborate with other NYCHEP working groups to advocate for resources for employment, housing, and access to higher education. The Advocacy Workgroup provides information on state-wide and local organizing that support incarcerated, formerly incarcerated students, and their families on advocacy issues. We advocate for the legislation included in The Justice Road Map 2021 to reduce incarceration, restore civil rights of formerly incarcerated people, defend the dignity and protect the rights of New Yorkers involved in the criminal and immigration systems (such as the Clean Slate NY campaign). We advocate for responsible use of federal Pell funds for regionally based in-person prison education programs and reentry services.  

Communications
The Communications Workgroup is responsible for thinking about how NYCHEP engages with key stakeholders and develops communication materials. In the past this has included press releases, project announcements, and updating the NYCHEP website. Our goal is to help articulate and share NYCHEP’s purpose and vision

Learning Modalities
The Learning Modalities working group, comprising representatives from HEP programs across New York State, strategizes around issues relating to pedagogy, technology, equity, access, and training. Established early in the COVID-19 pandemic, the working group has been a supportive space for administrators and educators navigating the complexities of remote teaching and learning. The working group has written white papers and assembled resources to help the NYCHEP community make informed decisions about correspondence-based education, emailing students, videoconferencing in prison classrooms, tablet-based learning management systems, and safe resumption of face-to-face learning during and after the pandemic. The working group meets every other week; all are welcome to join.

Bard Prison Initiative Classroom at Coxsakie CF
(c) Karen Perason

Re-Entry
The purpose of NYCHEP’s Reentry Workgroup is to help formerly incarcerated college students in New York access opportunities in work, personal life, community, citizenship, and continued learning that other New Yorkers with comparable educations enjoy. In this effort, we have decided to focus our current work on three general goals:

  1. Clarify and improve pathways for reentering college students who want to continue their education at New York State campuses.
  2. Understand the reentry needs of formerly incarcerated college students.
  3. Create a reentry resource database.

Leadership & Governance

*Banner image provided by Bard Prison Initiative, (c) Pete Mauney