GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY, PERIMETER COLLEGE GEOLOGY PART II: GEOLOGY AT WALKER STATE PRISON AND THE PRISON EDUCATION PROJECT

Faculty in coordination with Common Good Atlanta developed The Georgia State University Prison Education Program (GSUPEP) in 2016 in an effort to bring higher education to incarcerated individuals currently within the Georgia Department of Corrections and those at transitional facilities across the state. Students take courses taught by Perimeter College faculty and earn collegiate credits towards an associate’s degree that is presumed to be completed after released when time is served. A cohort of students at the Walker State Prison facility however, has progressed so far through the GSUPEP program that requirements for graduation would be met while they remain incarcerated. As they were nearing the end of their academic journey, the main complication was delivering lab science sequence courses (Area D) given the limitations of instruction in a state prison. Here we describe the methods of executing geology lecture and lab courses in a medium security level facility housing adult, male felons at Walker State Prison in Rock Spring, Georgia.