Our Social Justice Initiative Conference in 2019: Justice for All examined mass incarceration and the local community of Northern New York. The work continues with another opportunity to work toward Justice for All. SUNY Potsdam together with junior partner St. Lawrence University is developing a college in prison program at Riverview Correctional Facility in Ogdensburg called Potsdam@RCF. The college is working in conjunction with DOCCS-NY Riverview Correctional Facility (RCF) to provide a 4-year bachelor’s level degree to students who are incarcerated, funded by the US Dept. of Education, Experimental Sites Initiative, Second Chance Pell program. They are in the process of recruiting the initial 25 students to begin the program of study in fall 2021.
The most successful college in prison programs have widespread and local community support. This is where we can help! They are seeking community members who can volunteer as a tutor or as the facilitator of a study group/lounge. Study groups for students can form in the evenings, weekends, or days when classes are not in session. Students who are incarcerated can only attend the study group/lounge when there is a volunteer in the study lounge. Consequently, if there is a community volunteer who can attend RCF for a 2 hour block of time each week for the semester, students can attend the study lounge and have a quiet place to work on their studies and consult the “library” holdings.
They are also looking for volunteer tutors who have at least a Bachelor level education. In the fall students will study college writing and critical thinking type courses. However, in the spring 2022 semester students will be studying chemistry, and math. Because many students who are incarcerated received GEDs while incarcerated their math and science skills are often weak. Consequently, students studying in the Potsdam@RCF program would benefit greatly from community members who have a background in STEM in the spring 2022 and community volunteers who can provide tutoring in college level composition and reading skills this fall.
For more information or to get involved, please contact program director Nancy Lewis Ph.D, at lewishnl@potsdam.edu.