Program Assistant (Danbury) – Yale Prison Education Initiative

The Yale Prison Education Initiative (YPEI) is a signature program of Dwight Hall at Yale, an independent 501(c)(3) and Yale’s Center for Public Service and Social Justice. Founded in 2016 and a member of the Bard Prison Initiative’s Consortium for the Liberal Arts in Prison, YPEI has become a national leader in the field of higher education in prison by extending access to Yale liberal arts courses and programming and a rich network of academic resources to incarcerated students in Connecticut. Since 2018, YPEI has brought access to rigorous, credit-bearing liberal arts courses and programming to incarcerated students in the state; YPEI also provides direct support to formerly incarcerated students returning home, offering our students resume-building assistance, job search help, and connections to continuing educational opportunities. Beginning 2021, YPEI established a collaboration with the University of New Haven to offer degrees to incarcerated students enrolled in the program, and to create pathways for released students to continuing educational and professional development opportunities. In 2022, YPEI-UNH launched new programming at the Danbury Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury, CT, where it is now offering the only college program available to any incarcerated women in any federal prison in the U.S.

Position Description

The Program Assistant at Danbury will assist in coordinating YPEI’s programming at the federal prison in Danbury, CT. With the Danbury Site Director, the Program Assistant will oversee all volunteer coordination at the program facility, and help manage student transfer and reentry resources. They will help coordinate and schedule abundant YPEI student support resources (including advising, library services, and Academic Strategies workshops), assist in supporting faculty who are teaching at the facility, and manage course registration and assist with financial aid processes for incarcerated students. In coordination with the Assistant Director, they will manage the purchase, approval, and distribution of all course materials, and work to expand higher education access across the Danbury facilities.

Responsibilities

Responsibilities include, but will not be limited to the following:

• Managing orientation, clearance, and scheduling for all faculty and undergraduate and graduate volunteers at Danbury.

• Assisting the Site Director in coordinating all student support, including: course registration & managing incarcerated student enrollments and changes, creating student schedules and rosters for faculty and facility, facilitating advising and academic support, including library resources, materials and other requests, and creating, updating, and distributing semester calendars.

• Managing the purchase, approval, and distribution of all course materials, and working to expand higher education access across the Danbury facilities.

• Helping to onboard new faculty at facility, ensure they are prepared with course materials for course start, and troubleshooting any issues.

• Providing general support across program sites when needed • Supporting students’ reentry needs

Qualifications

• Excellent organizational skills and ability to multi-task

• Strong communications skills and ability to represent program core principles

• Ability to creatively problem-solve and demonstrated ability to build and maintain relationships with a variety of diverse stakeholders from corrections officers and prison staff to academic administrators and university faculty and students.

• Ability to operate in Microsoft Office/Teams

• Valid driver’s license

• Eligibility to be cleared as a volunteer in correctional facilities

• Bachelor’s Degree required

• Formerly incarcerated candidates encouraged to apply

• This position regularly requires work outside of traditional business hours including early mornings and evenings.

POSITION TYPE & COMPENSATION:

This is a full-time position with benefits. Salary: $50,000-55,000/year

This is a three-year fixed-duration grant-funded position.

APPLICATION PROCESS:

Please submit the following to ypei@dwighthall.org with subject line: “YPEI Program Assistant (Danbury) Application from [Your Name]”:

• A letter of introduction that addresses these questions: – Why is this position a fit for you personally and professionally? – Which of the key responsibilities are of greatest interest to you?

• Your CV or resume with two references listed

• Priority Consideration Deadline: July 19, 2024