Notes from July 10 meeting with Janice Nelson from Pelican Bay State Prison (PBSP) at College of the Redwoods In attendance: Janice Nelson, Keith Snow‐Flamer, Mark Winter, Lee Lindsey, Joe Hash, Rory Johnson, Julia Peterson, Matt McCann, Eli Naffah, Bob Brown, Michael Dennis, Lynn Thiesen, Rianne Connor 









In general, the prison system is evolving and changing, thus the emphasis on positive programs such as education. PBSP still has as a goal of an ‘Honor Dorm’ where inmates housed in one housing unit would all be college students. We agreed (Janice‐PBSP, Julia Peterson‐CR non‐credit, Joe Hash CR‐credit) to decelerate the timeline for the commencement of both non‐credit and credit courses. The original intent was to offer non‐credit this summer and credit beginning in the fall. The new timeline is to offer non‐credit in the fall and credit starting in the spring semester. Janice recommends all district faculty and staff working with inmates at PBSP receive 40‐hours of orientation and safety training. There is a mandatory 10‐hour training which would suffice to begin working with inmates, then an additional 30 hours of training would be provided throughout the first six months of working at PBSP to fulfill the 40‐hours. Safety is of utmost concern of all parties. Janice reviewed some of the safety procedures in place for the classroom for example: all inmates are searched before entering the classroom; classrooms all have windows for constant viewing by Correctional Officers (CO’s); faculty are equipped with an alarm in case of trouble; students can be asked to leave the classroom by the faculty; faculty/staff should never share personal information with the class or inmates. The issue of safety away from the prison was expressed. Some faculty/staff wonder about the safety of their families or themselves when not at PBSP. Janice stated that if a staff person or a family member is ever contacted on the street it is considered a ‘terrorist threat’ and dealt with accordingly. Involvement in such contact will lead to an inmate being placed in a more restrictive environment, e.g., being moved from the General Population to the ‘Special Housing Unit’ or SHU which is a solitary confinement area. Janice stressed that inmates deriving a benefit from a program such as ours will do what they need to do to retain the benefit. There are multiple benefits for inmates enrolled in education programs, not the least of which is a point system which can lead to things like a reduced sentence. Their classrooms can accommodate 24 students. We agreed that we did not want to max out the room and that 22 would be a more realistic number to reduce congestion. Classrooms are equipped with white boards. LCD projectors are available. Internet is not available in the classroom. They have a media specialist who can work with our faculty if they would like to use Youtube videos, etc. in their lectures. PBSP is building a reference library for inmates to use for research. Faculty can provide a listing of reference materials. Inmates schedules are such that they have time for education for 2 hours in the morning and 3 hours in the evening. CR will explore mainly evening offerings. 




The mission of CR’s PBSP Task Force was explained. The main context discussed was that the TF would be making recommendation(s) to the college administration regarding appropriate courses and/or degrees to be offered. These recommendations would be considered on a few different levels before any decisions are made about which courses to offer in spring semester of 2016. Janice understood the process and the rationale behind the process. Textbooks were discussed. There will be a need for department faculty to arrive at one text per course. Financial Aid was discussed with Lynn Thiesen. The vast majority of inmates should be BOG eligible. Only those who are not California residents would not be. CR’s FA Office will provide BOG and/or FAFSA hardcopy forms to be completed by inmates. During the non‐credit courses offered in the fall, inmates will have the opportunity to: complete the for‐credit application; complete FA forms; have college transcripts assessed; receive an SEP and academic advising; receive orientation; take placement tests. Unofficial transcripts can be used for placement and advising, but we must have officials as degree completion nears. Inmate attendance policies will be consistent with the districts as well as faculty members policies which include the ‘faculty delete’ option. Inmates will be subject to the same district policies regarding academic probation, dismissal, etc.