Providing Educational Opportunities in Prisons

Deadra Miller, online editor

Virginia Department of Corrections (VADOC) has agreements with local VCCS(Virginia Community College System) schools that help turn Virginia’s offenders into productive citizens. Currently nine PVCC faculty members go to Fluvanna Correctional Center for Women (FCCW) and Buckingham Correctional Centers (BKCC) to teach classes towards an Associate General Studies Degree.

Dr. Todd Platts, assistant professor of sociology, teaches SOC 200 and 215 at FCCW. Although he is not teaching there this semester, he hopes to go back and teach this upcoming summer semester. Platts’ class subject matter in these classes is about key problems in today’s society such as family issues, domestic violence, and other life defining material. As Platts teaches this material, he has to be cautious in how it is presented so that it does not trigger an offenders past experiences.

Platts says his policy is to “make accommodations on a case by case basis in either setting, college or prison.”

Dr. Ben Sloan, professor of English, has more of a defined background within this specific setting of teaching. Beginning in North Carolina Department of Corrections (NCDOC) in conjunction with Shaw University of Raleigh, N.C., Sloan was asked to work with men and women that are incarcerated within NCDOC, specifically in the Raleigh area. When Sloan moved to Virginia, he was asked yet again to educate students that are part of VADOC’s prison population, at FCCW and BKCC.

He primarily teaches English courses such as ENG 111, 112, Creative Writing, American Literature, World Literature, and at times he will teach SDV 100. He taught for one calendar year at BKCC and has been teaching numerous semesters at FCCW since 2011. Sloan is currently teaching ENG 112 and Creative Writing at FCCW.

Sloan has experience teaching both men and women, which not everyone has the opportunity to do because of the strict regulations that are required to teach in either population. Sloan said, “Men are more formal to teach than women are.”

Director of Student Success and Retention David Lerman, has also taught within VADOC. Educating offenders at FCCW, Lerman has taught SDV courses within this facility. He also has helped with registering students from BKCC and FCCW. He helps the prospective students learn what life outside of the facility would be like. Lerman said “the classwork that comes out of FCCW is of excellent quality,” and that if he has had to make any changes to his class it was because “FCCW does not have the proper internet resources needed for the projects.”

Lisa Shifflett, administrative assistant to Dr. John Donnelly, may not teach a subject like English, but she still provides crucial support for the registration process of the offenders. Her knowledge of the registration process, and the offenders’ access to study materials and books makes it so that offenders can get the education they seek by attending classes while incarcerated. Shifflett hopes to teach SDV 100 at FCCW in the summer of 2019.

With the help of Doris Buffet and the Sunshine Scholarship, Shifflett helps lay groundwork for the female offenders to realize that they have more to offer in life than what they have contributed in the past. PVCC is the only VCCS college that works with FCCW and the Sunshine Scholarship. The Sunshine Scholarship is awarded to about 20 women who meet the requirements of the application. With the help of this scholarship and their families, offenders achieve a goal of getting a higher education.

Vice President for Instruction & Student Services Dr. John Donnelly oversees the program that educates offenders within BKCC and FCCW. Donnelly is very passionate about educating offenders, not only in FCCW and BKCC but in Coffeewood Correctional Center (CFCC) as well.

In 2003, before he came to PVCC, Donnelly worked at Germanna Community College as an assistant dean. While there, he was asked to teach offenders at CFCC so that they could acquire a degree in either Business Administration or General Studies. This instance got Donnelly started with this opportunity of teaching within VADOC.

While PVCC only offers a General Studies degree, different VCCS schools offer other degree possibilities, Germanna offers a Business degree.

Donnelly said, “The opportunity that PVCC offers is transferable to any of the 15 guaranteed admissions four-year universities.” The offenders are given the exact same opportunity as traditional students. Many other programs available to offenders only teach them trade skills; the opportunity to receive a General Studies Degree provides a stable track for participants that get released.

“We (PVCC) offer the released offenders to come back so that they can finish their degree and have a stable life when they get out,” said Donnelly.  Donnelly displays a massive passion for this work; he describes his interactions with the offenders as enlightening and rewarding. Donnelly and the previously mentioned faculty do not do this work alone; it takes a village to help the less fortunate get a worthwhile education.

“The women sell themselves short on self-belief, and my role as their instructor is not to judge them for their past but to encourage them to push through the tough times,” said Donnelly.

To find more information on PVCC’s work with VADOC prisons, please email lshifflett@pvcc.edu to make an appointment with Donnelly.