Project AIM.....the Beginning

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My work with Project AIM falls into three broad areas of research, program administration, and program design. I supervise a wide range of activities involving curriculum and badge coordination, community outreach, coordination with NH and CT Department of Corrections (DOC), and building partnerships to support wrap around services.  I oversee a small team of student workers, graduate assistants, and volunteers; and inform SNHU's leadership and community on the progress and performance. Through my work with Project AIM I’ve gained a broad knowledge of program management principles and an understanding of how to ensure that our educational pathway for incarcerated learners is delivered equitably and aligns with SNHU’s mission. All of this work is done while also serving as Director of the Honors Program and teaching classes that work with community partners.

I created an academic agreement between SNHU and Second Chance Educational Alliance (SCEA). SCEA delivers the courses to the incarcerated learners in Connecticut. Upon completion of each course, SNHU issues a badge to the learner. Once an incarcerated learner enrolls as an SNHU online student, the badges are transferred in as academic credit. I meet with SCEA every other week to check-in on the status of the learners and work through any challenges. In addition, we now have a staff-cohort of correctional staff that have completed their 10 badges and started SNHU in October 2021. I meet with these students monthly to get their feedback on how their SNHU experience is going. These students are expected to graduate 2024. I am currently working with SCEA to plan a summer retreat for the staff cohort. We are also working on two additional badges for the learners to take in the next year. In March 2022, I created the NH Higher Education in Prisons Workgroup. This group meets the third Tuesday of each month and consists of stakeholders that have a vested interest in providing higher education in prisons. My role is to serve as a convenor so that community members and stakeholders can share updates and areas that they may need assistance with. 

As I prepare for launch in Concord, NH most of my time with Project AIM has been focused on building a model that will work. To assist in the program design, I have six student workers, four of whom have experienced incarceration, to help with grant research, program development, and community building. As a team we meet every Tuesday. I am working with the Emerging Initiatives Team to develop a three-year plan for Project AIM that will include the forecasted budget. My vision is that learners will receive badges until Pell grants become available in 2023. This will give us time to put everything in place and build a model that is sustainable. To date, I have hosted eight community convenings to bring stakeholders together that have a vested interest in Project AIM. The very first community convening took place on December 8th, 2021, for SNHU staff. Twelve convenings are scheduled for 2023, with a joint convening that was co-hosted with the NH Business and Economic Affairs - Office of Workforce Opportunity for employers seeking to hire individuals that complete Project AIM and are released.