Hamilton-Herkimer College in Prison Consortium sets 'students up to succeed' after release

Teaching classes for incarcerated students through the College in Prison program takes Dr. Robin Riecker right back to her roots in education.

"This truly reawakens why I got into teaching," explained Riecker, the associate dean of Academic Affairs, Humanities/Social Science at Herkimer County Community College (HCCC). "I have so many conversations with the students that really matter and are so rewarding to me."

Riecker said HCCC has offered the College in Prison program for men at the Mohawk Correctional Facility in Rome since 2017 and Mid-State Correctional Facility in Marcy since 2020. HCCC is part of the Hamilton-Herkimer College in Prison Consortium, also including Hamilton College in Clinton and Colgate University in Hamilton, in offering the prison courses.

Participants can earn a Liberal Arts & Sciences: General Studies associate of arts degree, or credits toward that degree. They have had 15 students graduate from the program to date.

HCCC recently was named one of 22 recipients of the federal Jobs for the Future/Ascendium Education Group’s Ready for Pell strategic initiative. The initiative is designed to help institutions that offer prison education programs navigate upcoming changes to the Federal Pell Grant program for student financial assistance.

Riecker said people who are incarcerated have been prohibited from receiving Pell Grants since 1994, but they can apply again starting next year.

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The two-year, $120,000 Ready for Pell grant will expand HCCC’s current College in Prison program to also include associate degrees in Psychology and Small Business Management. The grant also will offer the ability for HCCC to begin new processes and proposed workshops such as career exploration and financial literacy.

There are now 40 students at the Mohawk facility and 23 at Mid-State. HCCC has seven full-time and three to four adjunct professors alternating visits to the prisons, Riecker said. The evening courses, including English, math, science and even electives and a wellness class for physical education credit, are the same as on campus.

"We make sure the students on the inside of the correctional facility have the same access," Riecker said. "We want to make this college experience as close as possible to what it is on campus."

The College in Prison program currently is supported by private foundational funds. There is no cost for this educational opportunity for the students, something that can be controversial, but Riecker said she feels the money spent is a good investment.

She cited a 2013 study by the Rand Corporation that found that individuals who participate in education programs in prison are 43% less likely to return to prison and 13% more likely to find employment after release.

"In my brain it's worth it," she said. "Students don't tend to be repeat offenders if they have something to look forward to when they leave prison."

Doran Larson, professor of Literature and Creative Writing at Hamilton College, taught a creative writing course inside Attica State Prison from 2006 to 2016. He secured the Sunshine Lady Foundation Grant for four pilot years that founded the original Mohawk Consortium College in Prison Program in 2014.

Larson said he enjoys seeing the remarkable transformation that being a part of the program causes for the students.

"College is something a lot of them never imagined would be possible," he said. "They are some of the most engaged and best prepared students I've ever had."

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The program changes lives and sets students up to succeed when they are released, whether they complete the degree while in the College in Prison program or afterwards. The program sets them on a path to the future, he said, agreeing with Riecker that it is a sound investment.

"It can cost $60,000-plus to hold someone in prison for a year," he explained. "If this keeps them from coming back, it is a win-win for everyone."

SUNY's Higher Education for the Justice Involved (HEJI) Prison Education Director Rachel Sander oversees all New York state colleges offering courses in prisons. She called education "a basic human right" - and one that leads to success later in life.

"We like to measure the program's success by personal outcomes," she said. "This is a proven way to prevent people from returning to prison."

Sean Pica, executive director of the Ossining-based Hudson Link for Higher Education in Prison, knows first-hand the benefits of an HEJI program.

"While incarcerated, I completed an associate's, bachelor's and master's degree," he said.

"At the time, I had doubted if what I was doing was 'real college.' However, since coming home from prison and completing additional graduate work, I realized that the educational experience I had while incarcerated was unparalleled in academic rigor. It gave me insight, skills and knowledge that prepared me to take on meaningful responsibilities in my community."

Mike Jaquays is the community news reporter for the Mid-York Weekly. Email him at mjaquays@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Times Telegram: Hamilton-Herkimer College in Prison Consortium a 'win-win' for all