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The Research Collaborative on Higher Education in Prison


The Research Collaborative on Higher Education in Prison at the University of Utah works in collaboration with programs across the country to transform the landscape of prison higher education empirical research and collaboration. Connect with our team: researchcollaborativeHEP@utah.edu.

Research Collaborative Team:

erin castro

Erin L. Castro, PhD: is an Associate Professor of Higher Education and Associate Dean of College Access. She directs the Research Collaborative on Higher Education in Prison and serves as Co-Founding Executive Editor of the Journal of Higher Education in Prison.

Pamela Cappas-Toro is the Senior Associate Director for the Reseach Collaborative, while also working as Faculty on the Latin American Studies department at the U. She founded and directed the prison education program at Stetson University in Florida.

Pamela Cappas-Toro, PhD: works in Higher Education in Prison, concurrently serving as a faculty member in the World Languages and Cultures Department. She has worked in higher education across the U.S. promoting institutional practices, policies, and programming to best serve incarcerated and first-generation learners.

cassie

 Cassie Knaff: is a Senior Research Associate for the Research Collaborative on Higher Education in Prison and a PhD student in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at the University of Texas at Austin. She has 5 years of experience conducting research in nonprofit and higher education.

Lena Kondrashova

Lena Kondrashova: is a Research Manager for the Research Collaborative on Higher Education in Prison with a background in community partnership and social sciences. She managed project logistics providing leadership and operations support in advancement of educational equity.

cydney

Cydney Caradonna: is a PhD student at the University of Utah in the Educational Leadership and Policy department. She currently works as a graduate research assistant for the Research Collaborative, and supports the Journal of Higher Education in Prison. 

emilyheadshot

Emily Kersten-Warneke: is a PhD student at the University of Utah in the Educational Leadership and Policy department. She currently works as a graduate research assistant for the Research Collaborative.

 

 

 

Kehau

Kehaulani Folau: is Pohnpeian-Tongan who was born and raised in Rose Park (SLC, UT). She earned her Ph.D. in Education, Culture and Society at the University of Utah studying the impact of Indigenous feminist pedagogies and epistemologies. 

 

 

 

Journal of Higher Education in Prison

The Journal of Higher Education in Prison is an open-access practitioner-oriented journal. It is a partnership between RCHEP and the Alliance for Higher Education in Prison.

Engagment & Advocacy

Last Updated: 9/5/24