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The University of Wisconsin–Madison Odyssey Project received a $300,000 grant from the Oscar Rennebohm Foundation to continue teaching college courses to incarcerated people in Wisconsin through the Odyssey Beyond Bars program.
Noble Wray, retired Madison Chief of Police and Rennebohm board member
The funding of $100,000 over the next three years will support a pilot project that will deliver introductory college courses in English to incarcerated students who are interested in post-secondary education but are not yet enrolled in a credential-granting program. The project will also explore the potential for offering similar introductory courses in math.
“As someone working in Wisconsin’s criminal justice system for 37 years, I believe Odyssey Beyond Bars’ early results in providing a college ‘jump-start’ to incarcerated students have been impressive,” says retired Madison Chief of Police Noble Wray, who sits on the Rennebohm board of dir
Rich Kremer, Wisconsin Public Radio
University of Wisconsin System Interim President Tommy Thompson says he wants to transform one of the state’s prisons into a college for inmates. Thompson will pitch the “UW System Prison Education Initiative” to the UW Board of Regents on Thursday. Thompson, who oversaw a large expansion of Wisconsin’s prison system when he was governor in the 1990s, told WPR the initiative would also include technical colleges, private colleges, businesses and the Wisconsin Department of Corrections.
State Views: We need to improve prison education gazettextra.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from gazettextra.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
By Tommy Thompson | president, University of Wisconsin System
I first started thinking about prisons during my early years in the Assembly, more than 50 years ago. I believed then, and I believe now, that we need to give people who have committed a crime a second chance.
Iâve been thinking more about this lately as I reflect on my accomplishments in political life and as I work to renew the Wisconsin Idea for the 21st century as president of the University of Wisconsin System. Itâs clear to me now that our state hasnât done enough to give prisoners another shot at a good life, and itâs equally clear that the UW has an opportunity to offer a solution.
I first started thinking about prisons during my early years in the Assembly, more than 50 years ago. I believed then, and I believe now, that we need to give