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For more information about Oklahoma Christian and this program, visit www.oc.edu.
Incarcerated individuals have a unique opportunity through the partnership between the Department of Corrections and Oklahoma Christian University.
Oklahoma Christian’s Jeff McCormack, the Chief Academic Officer for the University, came up with the HOPE (Helping Oklahoma through Prison Education) Institute located at Oklahoma Christian University.
“This is a program that’s modeled after one that I was familiar with in Nashville, TN when we lived in Nashville about seven and a half years ago,” McCormack said.
Oklahoma has the highest per capita rate of incarceration of women in the world.
“As a faith-based institution, as Oklahoma Christian University, we feel like this is a way for us to participate and carry out our mission by going into the prison’s and helping those individuals who are incarcerated,” McCormack said.
Although it’s merely off the ground, the program seems to be going forward in the right direction.
“It started last semester with 14 students and we’ll be adding 14 more students in the spring,” McCormack said. “So, it’ll have a total of 28 students at Mabel Bassett Correctional Center that are enrolled at Oklahoma Christian.”
The current degree plan will get the inmates working toward an associate of science degree with an emphasis on business. A vetting process to determine eligibility for the inmates to participate does happen, but even inmate’s ineligible for parole are candidates for the degree program.
McCormack said Oklahoma Christian asked the Department of Corrections about what types of degrees and areas of emphasis would be most receptive to the inmates. DOC indicated a degree in business would have the most interest.
McCormack said OC could expand the degree programs when ready, but wanted to start at the biggest need.
“We have options with our associate’s degrees at Oklahoma Christian in various areas of emphasis, gaming and animation, criminal justice,” McCormack said. “But we knew that business would be the highest level of interest and so we said, ‘That’s where we’re going to start.’”
Although the program only has one semester completed, the format has been established as an in-person class setting. One professor makes the drive to McCloud as a volunteer, badged individual while teaching class on the site.
The end goal goes a step further.
“Ultimately, our goal is to have students from Oklahoma Christian going with the professor to the facility and going to class,” McCormack said. “So, they’re taking that same class with the students there at Mabel Bassett.”
There will be an option for some virtually delivered content in 2022.
McCormack said people are lining up to take college classes at the facility. He said motivation to participate has not been an issue at all.
“I’m excited about Oklahoma Christian being able to participate in helping a population that too many times is just a number or a stat,” McCormack said.
McCormack isn’t the only one excited if faculty participation is an indication.
“I can’t think of any program that I’ve been involved with where there’s more interest in participating by faculty than this program,” McCormack said. “It’s the right thing for a Christian University to be doing.”
For more information about Oklahoma Christian and this program, visit www.oc.edu.