April 2023
Spring has sprung, and we are pleased to share with you a lot of exciting news, including news about what the STEM-OPS Alliance has been up to for the past 3 months, separate updates from all the STEM-OPS core partners, links to news articles about people and organizations in the STEM-OPS network, and a lot of great job opportunities. Please share this newsletter with your friends and colleagues. Now on with the show … |
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*SPECIAL FEATURE *STEM-OPS Blog: Recent Posts *STEM-OPS Core Partner Updates *STEM-OPS Network in the News |
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*Upcoming Events and Opportunities *Resources Recommended by STEM-OPS Core Partners *Job Openings |
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STEM-OPS Hosts Live Panel for Second Chance Month |
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On April 17 in Washington, DC, STEM-OPS (with support from Education Development Center and the National Building Museum [NBM], shown at left) hosted an in-person panel discussion titled “Second Chance: The Critical Need for STEM Education and Careers for Justice-Impacted People.” In the halls of the NBM, educators, policymakers, advocates, allies, and community partners came together to celebrate Second Chance month and to discuss the importance of systems change to elevate education and workforce development opportunities for people with lived experiences. |
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Attendees listened to a panel discussion led by moderator Kara Arundel (senior reporter at K–12 Dive who covers national preK–12 topics). The conversation was informative and enlightening, and included Terrell Blount (a motivational speaker and activist for justice reform), Jessica Hicklin (co-founder and CTO of UnlockedLabs), Amy Lopez (an Obama-era appointee, chosen to build a school district within the Federal Bureau of Prisons), Ken Oliver (executive director of Checkr.org), and Kiersten E. Todt (chief of staff at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency [CISA]). |
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Kara Arundal, Terrell Blount, Kiersten Todt, Amy Lopez, Jessica Hicklin, and Ken Oliver |
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To ground the audience in just how critical this issue is to our national health and wellbeing, in addition to the immediate need of those who are justice involved, STEM-OPS PI Eden Badertscher opened the event by highlighting the following statistics: At any given time, roughly 1 in 25 minor children in school have a parent who is currently incarcerated; this translates to the statistic that for adults aged 18–29, nearly half have a parent who has been incarcerated. Extending beyond a focus on parents, 1 in 2 U.S. adults 18 and over has a loved one who is justice impacted. |
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Attendees at the April 17 event |
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>>> !!! Join the Second Chance Panel Watch Party !!! <<< EDC will be hosting a watch party of the April 17 Second Chance panel discussion on a TBD date and time for those who could not attend the event live. Keep an eye out for an upcoming STEM-OPS NewsBites issue with all the details. |
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While in DC ... Visit the Pentagon |
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While in DC, STEM-OPS PI Eden Badertscher (of EDC) met at the Pentagon with Department of Defense Deputy Chief Technology Officer Maynard Holliday to discuss their respective work and the importance of advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in STEM. |
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Holliday recognizes that he and others from underrepresented populations like him need to be very visible in their roles in STEM to help make clear that STEM is for anyone. As part of this effort, he founded Black in Robotics. Maynard and Badertscher discussed a few specific pieces of work, and hopefully STEM-OPS will be able to bring him to a convening or panel where he can speak. (They also reveled in their nerdy love of superheroes!) |
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| STEM-OPS Blog: Recent Posts |
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This is the second in a series of blog posts by STEM-OPS friend Talia Proshan. Prison education can have life changing benefits. Unfortunately, there are high rates of recidivism among formerly incarcerated individuals. A 2012 Bureau of Justice Statistics study found that of about 404,638 formerly incarcerated people in 34 states, 67.8% were rearrested three years post release and 76.6% were rearrested within five years. Yet, according to a study by Rand Corporation, those who participate in higher education programs are 43% less likely to recidivate. READ MORE |
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| STEM-OPS Core Partner Updates |
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Operation Restoration Lab Assistant Program Operation Restoration recently began the first cohort of its Lab Assistant Program at the Louisiana Correctional Center for Women. Ten women were selected to participate in the 6-month program, learning the ins and outs of being a lab assistant as well as earning college math and science credits through a local community college. During the program, they will be assisted with the licensure process with the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners and provided job readiness skills. Once released, they may apply for positions at local hospitals, gain employment, and begin their lives as returning citizens. |
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Beyond the Bars Program Syrita Steib, founder and CEO of Operation Restoration, was invited to present at the Beyond the Bars Program: South program , which focuses on building the power of people in Atlanta, Georgia, on “A Multisectoral Approach to Neighborhood Growth.” This conference focused on the relationship between universities, colleges, and neighborhoods. Gentrification, income inequality, and mass incarceration have transformed southern cities that are home to leading institutions of higher education. This conference fostered conversations, building relationships and generating practical solutions for building strong and more resilient systems. |
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Prom Prison Cell to PhD/Professionals (P2P) Graduating Cohort P2P recently celebrated Cohort 28’s graduation with scholars, friends, and family! They are extremely proud of all the diligence seen in these graduates. P2P knows that they can and will succeed in their career and educational pathways moving forward.
Bridges to Baccalaureate Research Training Program The Bridges to Baccalaureate (B2B) Research Training Program, run in partnership with Howard University and Baltimore City Community College, is going strong! The first cohort has almost completed their first year! The call for submission to apply for the next cohort will begin in May 2023. This is a creative STEM training program that provides educational readiness by P2P, BCCC, and Howard University faculty and leaders. Scholars participate in a 10-week STEM research internship at Howard University in the summer in between Years 1 and 2, and then transition to a 4-year school upon completing their associates degree at BCCC. |
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Rosie Butts, Henry Goldberg, Jacob Maynard, and Vin Smith comprise the very first Cohort of B2B Scholars. Please join us in wishing them the very best of luck in their journey! |
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2023 UHE Campaign P2P is working with Unlock Higher Education (UHE) on its 2023 Campaign. UHE is a broad group of stakeholders interested in policy solutions to increase educational access for individuals with criminal convictions. UHE believes that higher education creates pathways to financial stability and increased opportunity. It is in this spirit that we are excited to renew and relaunch our collective efforts, and we invite you and your organization to join us today.
This year will be a great time to join because UHE Stands will be at the forefront of the upcoming Pell Restoration!!! The UHE 2023 campaign is looking for members of the following subcommittees: Events, Federal Level Advocacy, Media & Messaging, Membership & Fundraising, and State Level Advocacy. For more information, check out this press release: 2023 Unlock Higher Education Campaign Kicks Off
Current participating groups and organizations include P2P, Formerly Incarcerated College Graduates Network (FICGN), Vera Institute of Justice, STEM-OPS, Ithaka, Operation Restoration, The Education Trust, Johns Hopkins University, and Second Chance Educational Alliance. |
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Unlock Higher Ed advocates and leaders in front of the U.S. Capitol during a trip to DC to advocate for Pell Restoration |
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American Educational Research Association (AERA) Stanley Andrisse presented the collaborative work of his and P2P co-authors William Freeman, Majid Muhammed, and Jacob Eikenberry at the annual American Educational Research Association (AERA) Conference Presidential Session in Chicago on Saturday, April 15. Their paper Providing a Structured Support System and Mentoring Facilitated the Transformative Power of Education for Currently and Formerly Incarcerated Persons was one of five papers authored solely by formerly incarcerated individuals. The paper investigated how providing structured support and peer mentoring services (i.e., P2P Scholars Programming) improved educational and employment outcomes for currently and formerly incarcerated individuals. Using data from 540 currently and formerly incarcerated applicants to the P2P Scholars program from 2017–2020, findings demonstrated how P2P Scholars outperformed both non-P2P and non-formerly incarcerated students across all measured outcomes: matriculation rate, employment rate, persistence, 1st and 2nd year Grade Point Averages, and recidivism. |
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Initiative for Race Research and Justice, Vanderbilt University JumpStart Virtual Conference This year, the JumpStart Virtual Conference is more urgent than ever. The theme is Here to Stay: Reigniting the Fire for Racial Justice. Our RRJ team works hard to ensure the JumpStart Virtual Conference is accessible to and potentially transformative for students, educators, and community members. Last year, over 500 people registered for the conference and had the opportunity to hear from three outstanding keynote speakers. Participants also engaged with field experts across 18 intensive breakout sessions. |
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Princeton University's Prison Teaching Initiative |
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Graduate Research Fellowship Winner Princeton Astrophysics REU alumnus and P2P Ambassador Majid Mohammad (shown at right) was awarded a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. The NSF GRFP recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students who have demonstrated the potential to be high achieving scientists and engineers. |
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Mohammad is currently a Physics PhD student at University of California, Santa Barbara, specializing in the study of superconducting single photo detectors for quantum information science. He can be reached at mmohammad@ucsb.edu (Instagram: @_reinventyourself)
Summer Interns |
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Education Development Center (EDC) New STEM-OPS Staff EDC welcomed Basia Skudrzyk as the new STEM-OPS director of the Executive Committee in February, and they're pleased to introduce the new STEM-OPS communications associate, Mary Evans, who started at EDC on April 10.
AERA Annual Conference Nineteen EDC researchers, including STEM-OPS PI Eden Badertscher, have presented or will present their findings at this year’s AERA annual meeting (in-person and virtual). Eden presented "The Essential Value of the Justice-Impacted Voice in (and in the Design of) Educational Research Related to Exclusion and How This Voice, When Combined With System Research, Can Add Nuance and Complexity to Our Understanding." View the EDC.org newsroom announcement to learn more about EDC's other presentations. |
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| STEM-OPS Network in the News |
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- SLU Alumnus Shares Transformative Power of Higher Ed for Formerly Incarcerated. SLU.com (Featuring Stanley Andrisse, P2P and Howard University)
- Higher Education as a Human Right, The St. Louis American (Featuring Jameel Spann, The Clark-Fox Family Foundation)
- Liftoff, University of Washington Magazine (Featuring Raymond Haug, UWashington senior)
- How Education in Prison Changed William Freeman’s Life, Baltimore Magazine (Featuring William Freeman, Education Trust)
- 3 Steps to Help Returning Citizens Gain Second Chances Through STEM, The Hill (Op-Ed co-authored by Eden Badertscher, EDC, and Basia Skudrzyk, EDC & P2P)
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| Resources Recommended by STEM-OPS Core Partners |
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BOOK: ARTICLES: VIDEOS: PODCASTS: |
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If your organization has a job listing you'd like posted in our July newsletter, please email it to info@stem-ops.org. |
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If you have any comments or questions about this newsletter, please email info@stem-ops.org. |
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