I would like to thank everyone for the opportunity
of presenting a correctional education update before the
Solano College academic Senate.
My name is Tony Zucco and since November 20 20,
I've been serving as the interim associate dean
of external programs
which includes our Correctional education program.
Today I will be providing you with a general update
on the correctional education program.
I will also Describe the impact covid-19 is had
on our Correctional education program the improvements
which been made to our correspondence mode,
of course delivery summer
and fall course scheduling aligning courses
with Associate's degrees for transfer
and movement towards rectifying great.
Not grading anomalies from previous terms
at the end of the presentation.
I'll be happy to address any questions
from the esteemed members of the academic Senate.
The spring 2021 semester of Correctional education has begun
under less than optimal circumstances.
As you may know the incarcerated education program has
necessarily adopted a correspondence format.
And this mode of course delivery in
and of itself presents many challenges for faculty students
and Correctional education.
administrators both at Solano college and our partners
at csps cmf and Solano County Jail nonetheless our
Correctional faculty and many behind-the-scene personnel have
done an exemplary job
of creating course packages compiling coursework acquiring
textbooks and other learning materials
and preparing these items for delivery
to the correctional facilities that we serve and as you can see
from these images the the preparation process
for providing and delivering correspondence courses is quite
Undertaking to say the least.
Beginning on January 19th
and through last week course materials were delivered
to the correctional facilities for the education coordinators
at these institutions disperse the relevant items
to our incarcerated students.
I'm happy to report that as of last week.
We had well over 750 student enrollments divided among the 17
courses that we currently are offering.
However, this number will likely change
as some students have decided to drop courses
and others are adding late nonetheless.
The total student enrollments is in line
with our early estimates.
The negative impact of covid-19 while severe
for our traditional students
and instructors has been even more debilitating
for our Correctional education program.
We had originally targeted the completion
of incarcerated student enrollments
for mid December 2020.
Unfortunately, the covid-19 crisis hit the prison's hard
and December which resulted in extensive quarantine
and the inability of our partners
at the correctional institutions to deliver enrollment forms
and access students during much of December
and into early January the education coordinators at cmf
and csps were limited or restricted
from accessing students.
And in some cases our partners
at these institutions were not allowed inside the prison.
Ultimately this delayed the enrollment process
until the beginning of January.
This issue is still an ongoing problem and is likely
to persist throughout the semester
for instance our students at cmf.
That's California medical facility are quarantined
and can only turn their assignments in by way
of the correctional institution Mail system.
Now this may sound Sounds like a quick process,
but I have been informed that it may take up to a week
for a students homework to get from that student
to the education coordinator at the correctional facility.
And then once the coordinator receives the homework it has
to be sent to Solano college and then to the instructor.
Unfortunately, there may be a two-week lag
between the time students submit assignments and the instructor.
Receives the work and likewise a similar delay will then exist
from the time the instructor grades the work
and it is received by the student.
This is not an optimal situation,
which I think is a profound understatement aside
from the debilitating impact of covid-19.
Our correspondence education program has instituted many
significant improvements one.
Will feature
of our correspondence program moving forward is the use
of course packages and assignment package templates.
These packets are organizational in nature
and do not alter the content or materials instructors use
to facilitate their courses the packages provide easy
to use templates by which professors can incorporate their
learning materials and assignments
in an intuitive format.
Moreover the packets incorporate data that are essential
for tracking the delivery and return of course work each page
of the course packages
and assignment packages identifies the instructor
by last name the course the crn number and Correctional Facility
where the course is being provided.
This information is particularly important
when students return coursework in the past homework has free.
We've been misdelivered because of a lack
of descriptive information
in addition these packets provide a table
of contents a calendar and other relevant information
to help students with organizing their learning.
Another important innovation is the use
of an improved student instructor interaction form
student instructor interaction or the lack thereof is one
of the biggest issues
with correspondents learning incarcerated students do not
have access to the internet or email or any means
of communicating with their instructors aside from doing
so by way of a Written Letter are incarcerated
students desire.
Input of their instructors and we
as Educators know just how important this communication is.
Therefore students are now required
to submit a student instructor interaction form
with each assignment turned into the professor.
This document includes the student's name student ID number
housing and facility locations and other relevant information
on the first page of this form the student has an opportunity
to To write questions or comments
to the professor on the second page.
The instructor has a space to respond to the student
and offer additional comments or insights.
Other improvements include twice a week pickup and delivery
to csps, which is California State Prison Solano
and cmf California medical facility.
And this occurs on Tuesdays and Thursdays Solano County.
Jail is scheduled by their request for Tuesday only.
Return envelopes with an area
in which students must include their name ID location course
and instructor is also a new innovation.
Well, this may seem like a small item the misdelivery
of assignments to and from the prison has been an issue
in the past a timelines for the return of coursework
and student instructor interaction forms
by faculty is also something that we're focusing on.
These timelines are vile given the slow nature
of Correspondence as exacerbated by the covid-19 crisis
and perhaps most importantly we have regular Correctional
education meetings that include SEC leadership
and support Personnel a correctional faculty
and education coordinators
from the correctional facilities the idea behind
these all-inclusive.
Meetings is to create a forum by which all
of the key players can offer insights
to help make improvements to our Correctional program.
The delays that we have experienced
with spring 2021 enrollments and delivery
of course materials has highlighted the importance
of scheduling summer and fall 2021 courses quickly
and getting the enrollment process started early our
partners at the prison.
Well, they would like to have some summer classes.
However squeezing a full semester class
into an 8-week term.
Yeah correspondence, by the way, it is a difficult undertaking.
Indeed. Some courses are just two robust
to even consider doing so for the upcoming summer session.
So we are faced with a bit of a dilemma the facilities
at least the prison's watch summer courses
and some faculty members rely on having summer courses
for income yet at the same time.
If we do hold summer courses those
who teach these courses will have to devote Extra time
and attention to the classes
and will undoubtedly miss the grading deadline
which occurs only a few days after the session ends.
At this point vice president Williams and I have not come
to a definitive conclusion
as to whether we will be offering summer courses.
It is my hope however that we will be able
to offer a small number of Summer courses on our schedule
for are incarcerated students and faculty who rely
on teaching courses during this term.
For the upcoming fall semester.
We are planning to offer a fairly robust schedule.
Like we have done during the Spring 2021 semester
and this brings me to the next topic.
It is our goal as it is among our incarcerated students
and the coordinators at the correctional facilities
to offer courses that are relevant
to earning an associate's degree.
We are currently offering degrees for transfer
in Psychology and business at cmf and political science
and sociology at csps.
Therefore as we make plans for the fall 2021 semester
and a possible summer 2021 term our Focus will be
to offer courses that are necessary
for degree achievement among are incarcerated students.
We are currently in the process
of reconciling past course offerings
and determining course needs for the upcoming semesters.
Our rapid shift to correspondence education
as a byproduct of the covid-19 crisis has resulted in a number
of difficulties and some of these I've already shared
with you a problem that has persisted
over several semesters is the need to revise student grades.
Because of delays with the return
of student assignments during the spring summer
and fall 2020 terms in many cases Correctional faculty have
had to assign temporary IP grades for their students.
At this point most
of our Correctional faculty have submitted revised grades
for these past terms and it is our goal
to have all grades revised by the end
of this first week of February.
However, that is yet to be seen it is also still possible
that some student assignments from Fall 2020 have
yet to arrive and will require revisions at a later date now,
This is a problem for everyone involved including the SCC
administrative staff course facilitators
and Correctional faculty who are reviewing student work.
Well beyond the semester fortunately our Correctional
faculty will be compensated for this extra work nonetheless.
This does not resolve the issue of having
to revise grades post semester.
Due to the unpredictable nature of conditions
at the correctional facilities and largely due
to the covid-19 crisis.
This problem is likely to continue into the near future.
However, we have instituted some new policies that are intended
to reduce the number of grade revisions
for upcoming semesters first the communication linkage
between SC Seeker.
Actual Administration the professor's teaching courses
for the correctional program and our education Partners
at the facilities that we serve.
This is being enhanced by way of constant communication among all
of these stakeholders
in the past Correctional faculty have frequently been left
in the dark in terms of knowing the conditions
at the correctional facilities
and situations involving individual students
as simply put if a students assignments were missing the
instructor didn't know
if the student abandoned the class took ill was transferred
to another facility was placed
in administrative segregation or some other Factor.
It is our hope that open lines of communication including email
and full inclusion in frequent Correctional meetings will help
alleviate some degree of uncertainty pertaining
to students who have seemingly disappeared.
Secondly Correctional faculty are encouraged
to give their final exams one week before the end
of the term while this may seem unorthodox.
It is a necessity T due to the slow nature
of returning assignments Nonetheless as I mentioned
if we do engage in a summer session and it is my hope
that we will some of these instructors will likely be
tasked with revising grades past the term instructors
who teach during the summer session.
Well, and again if we do have a summer term they will be privy
to this eventuality.
Irrespective of the difficulties
that we have encountered offering Correctional education
since the onset of the covid-19 pandemic Salado college has
continued to provide an essential service
to an underserved population
of students whose successful reintegration
with Society post-incarceration is largely dependent upon
attaining a college education.
It is a well-documented.
In fact that incarcerated persons
who attain an education while in prison are far less likely
to recidivate when compared to those who did not engage
in education during their confinement
by providing a college education to incarcerated persons.
We are not only doing our part to reduce crime.
We are also reducing victimization
and improving the lives of individuals
who have largely been written off
by Society Solano College deserves many accolades
for its Correctional education program that I thank you
for listening to this presentation this time.
I would be happy to take any questions.