Prison Education Assistant Director

The Evergreen State College Portal•Olympia, WA

4d•Onsite

About The Position

The Prison Education Assistant Director will collaborate with ELEN Co-Directors and the Dean of Prison Education to establish and achieve programmatic, administrative, student service, personnel, and budget goals for the Evergreen Prison Education Program (EPEP). This role involves leadership in grant writing, contract management, and program implementation. The Assistant Director will act as a consultant for curriculum development, focusing on creating meaningful degree pathways within the carceral setting and improving student access to research materials. They will also plan and provide faculty orientation, lead the development and management of programs supporting diverse students, and assist EPEP faculty with carceral classroom logistics. A key aspect of the role is providing comprehensive student success services, including outreach, recruitment, registration, onboarding, advising, access services, trauma-informed engagement, instructional support, and graduation management for incarcerated and legally liberated scholars. The Assistant Director will facilitate communication between students and financial aid staff, and support partnerships between the Department of Corrections (DOC) education staff and EPEP financial aid and student accounts staff to ensure timely financial aid distribution and invoicing. They will also assess team accountability, provide feedback, manage security clearances, and address security issues.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree.
One year of experience in program planning, implementation, and operations, tracking short- and long-term program goals, managing budgets, reporting, facilitating meetings, supervision, and/or developing funding proposals.
Two years of experience working alongside individuals and communities impacted by poverty, discrimination, incarceration, addiction, interrupted education, trauma, and/or other significant barriers, with demonstrated value and respect for individual agency, dignity, and self-determination.
Two years of experience coordinating or providing education, student success, reentry/reintegration, recovery, or related programs.

Responsibilities

Identify EPEP short- and long-term programmatic, administrative, student service, personnel, and budget goals.
Provide leadership in development of grants, contracts, and donations and manage resulting program or project implementation.
Act as a consultant for the Co-Director of Curriculum in mapping out meaningful pathways to an Evergreen degree.
Brainstorm and problem-solve around increasing student access to research materials.
Plan and provide faculty orientation.
Lead development, implementation, and operations management for programs and collaborations supporting diverse students.
Support EPEP faculty working in the Bachelor’s degree program with logistics related to carceral classrooms.
Work with other EPEP and College staff to provide student success services, including outreach, recruitment, registration, onboarding and orientation, academic and career advising, access services, trauma-informed and healing-centered engagement, instructional support, and graduation management.
Facilitate communication between current and prospective EPEP students and EPEP’s dedicated Financial Aid staff.
Support communication and partnership between DOC education staff and EPEP Financial Aid staff and Student Accounts staff.
Assess self and team accountability to ensure the best service to students; provide compassionate, effective, and actionable feedback.
Manage security clearances and work with others to effectively address security and other issues as they arise.
Identify actionable educational barriers and develop strategies in collaboration with students to support student engagement, academic agency, and retention.
Develop processes to gauge student academic interests to support a responsive, student-centered curriculum.
Ensure compliance with ADA standards by informing students of their rights and facilitating access to reasonable accommodation.
Provide holistic support to help students manage the emotional and cognitive demands of rigorous academic work and external stressors.
Design and facilitate orientation programming for incoming and continuing incarcerated students.
Support students in cultivating an inclusive learning community that values mutual support, fosters academic confidence and belonging, and engages difference.
Introduce students to the expectations, norms, and resources of college life, while being mindful of, and responsive to, the specific contexts and challenges of pursuing higher education while incarcerated.
Develop diverse partnerships, including with community organizations, state and federal agencies, education institutions, and multiple Evergreen offices and organizations.
Lead communications to effectively address and resolve complex program and/or organization issues and challenges.
Coordinate with Liberation Scholars and other existing student support services at Evergreen to support EPEP students releasing from prison and increase access to education.
Foster positive relationships with all partners, including incarcerated people, students, DOC, Community Colleges, Evergreen, agency, and community organization staff and leadership.
Engage in strategic activities that advance the mission of EPEP by leading and participating in meetings, conference calls, and working groups and presenting to a diverse range of audiences.
Coordinate with Evergreen’s Marketing and Communication’s office on communications, recruitment, and branding.
Coordinate with Evergreen’s Office of Advancement to pursue private funding opportunities.
Manage tracking, reporting, shared file, and program evaluation systems and submit reports to state and federal agencies, funders and EPEP leadership.
Manage records and correspondence with incarcerated students to support education and reentry/reintegration via approved communication and tracking systems.
Continue the development and maintenance of EPEP file management, tracking and reporting, and documenting program processes.
Maintain student information, produce required call outs, referrals, clearance checks, etc. using DOC’s database and IT systems.
Support, manage, and monitor program budgets using Excel and Banner.
Complete all required training courses and training requirements necessary to maintain access to WA carceral facilities.
Perform other duties as assigned.