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Nine Lansing Correctional Facility inmates receive degrees
DC receives grant to increase service learning efforts
DC signs dual-admissions agreement with Newman Univ.
NINE LANSING CORRECTIONAL FACILITY INMATES EARN ASSOCIATE DEGREES
KANSAS CITY, Kan., Aug. 27, 2010 — Nine inmates of Lansing Correctional Facility in Lansing, Kan., received their associate degrees from Donnelly College at a commencement ceremony at 9 a.m., Friday, Aug. 27, at Lansing Correctional Facility.
Six of the nine inmates took part in the ceremony: Ahmed Bey, Joel Butler, Maurice Harris, Charles Johnson, Carl Mitchell, and Kenneth Waddell.
Speakers at the ceremony included President of Donnelly Dr. Steve LaNasa, inmate graduate Kenneth Waddell, Secretary of the Kansas Department of Corrections Roger Werholtz, Donnelly’s Lansing Program Coordinator Dr. Steve Jansen, and Most Rev. Joseph F. Naumann, Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas.
Roger Werholtz, Secretary of the Kansas Department of Corrections, was the ceremony’s featured speaker and encouraged the graduates to keep thinking about their futures.
“Being in prison, you may think the path you are on leads you to nowhere, but that’s not the case,” said Werholtz. “Your decision to enter into Donnelly’s program shows that you are not only capable of achieving big things, but you are worthy of admiration. I admire you for what you have accomplished here, and am inspired to think about what you will achieve in years to come,” he added. “I encourage you to go forward and be a role model, and help others grow and prosper.”
Inmates were able to visit with their proud families and friends at a reception following the ceremony. One inmate had family drive six hours through the night from Tulsa, Okla., another nine hours from Shreveport, La.
“I’m so proud of my brother because under his conditions of being in prison, he has unlocked doors in his mind that no gates, locks or barriers can ever contain,” said the sister of graduate Charles Johnson.
Graduate Kenneth Waddell also spoke at the ceremony, thanking attendees for the tremendous opportunity he has been given.
“I am the first in my family to get a higher education, so this degree means a lot to me,” said Waddell. “I have more pride in myself and a sense of security of knowing I have a better chance at getting a job in the future.”
Donnelly College has offered classes at Lansing Correctional Facility since 2001 as an extension of its mission to “serve those who might not otherwise be served” in higher education. Since then, more than 325 inmates have taken classes, 23 have earned their associate degrees, and 155 have been released from prison. Of those 155, only three – or two percent – have been reconvicted of a crime and are back in prison.
Comparatively, 25 percent of inmates nationally are resentenced to prison for a new crime within three years of release, according to a 2002 Bureau of Justice Statistics Report. Donnelly’s program is one of less than a dozen of its kind that exist in the U.S., and only one of two in the state of Kansas. The College hopes its program will serve as a cost-efficient, effective model to help lower recidivism across the country.
Last year, the College was awarded a $223,000 grant from the Department of Justice to support program operations for its associate degree program at Lansing for three years. Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas helped Donnelly secure these funds.
For more information about Donnelly’s Lansing Prison Program, contact Steve Jansen, Ph.D., Lansing Program Coordinator for the College, at (913) 621-8706 or sjansen@donnelly.edu.
COLLEGE RECEIVES $85,000 GRANT TO INCREASE SERVICE-LEARNING EFFORTS
KANSAS CITY, Kan., Aug. 12, 2010 —The Corporation for National and Community Service awarded more than $85,000 to Donnelly College to help advance the College’s service-learning program, which was piloted on campus in the last 18 months.
This two-year grant enables Donnelly to hire a full-time Service Learning Program Coordinator who will work with faculty to expand service learning opportunities on campus. The grant will also help grow student programming and provide critically needed funds to cover the cost of service-learning projects, supplies and trainings.
Donnelly was one of only 28 organizations selected of more than 190 college and nonprofit applicants.
“We are especially proud to receive this award, as it was an extremely competitive process that puts us in the mix with large universities such as Duke, University of Nebraska, Miami-Dade College, and the University of California, Santa Cruz,” said Donnelly’s President Steve LaNasa, Ph.D.
According to the Corporation’s official release, they gave $9 million in Learn and Serve America Higher Education grants to support teacher training and to increase student interest in four specific fields: Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM). These grants focused on both training current and future teachers to use service-learning in the classroom, and to bring service-learning to each of the STEM disciplines.
“These grants will advance our goal of aligning quality education programs with service opportunities that help address local needs,” said Patrick Corvington, CEO of the Corporation. “We believe that innovation in education should move beyond the classroom, and engage young people in creating solutions that change the world around them.”
Donnelly will use these funds to engage faculty members in creating service-learning experiences in their curriculum, said Donnelly’s Dean of Student Affairs Donette Alonzo, MIHE. “We want faculty to learn how to use service-learning as a tool to increase student achievement. By participating in these service opportunities, our students will be able to give back to the community they call home.”
Growing this program is a strategic decision by the faculty to enhance student learning of concepts inside the classroom by applying them to real issues within our community. This reinforces not only the liberal arts education they are receiving, but inspires students to share their gifts to help transform the places around them.
“Donnelly has always had a tradition of collaboration and commitment to helping students reach their full potential,” said LaNasa. “Our goal is to educate the whole person, and this grant is another way we can do this while also fulfilling in a new way our steadfast commitment to our community.”
About The Corporation for National and Community Service
The Corporation for National and Community Service is a federal agency that engages more than five million Americans in service through Senior Corps, AmeriCorps, and Learn and Serve America and leads President Obama’s national call to service initiative, United We Serve. For more information, visit NationalService.gov.
Dual-admissions agreement with Donnelly College offers students scholarship, ease of transfer to Newman University
KANSAS CITY, Kan., Aug. 11, 2010 —Donnelly College and Newman University, of Wichita, Kan., have created an agreement that will offer a new dual-admissions program to students. The agreement allows Donnelly students with a 2.0 GPA or above to transfer to Newman and earn a $3,000 per year scholarship, which is renewed each academic year so long as academic requirements are met.
Newman and Donnelly officials signed the agreement at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 11, in Donnelly’s main academic building on the Donnelly campus. A free reception followed.
Members of the executive staff from both colleges were in attendance, including Newman President Noreen M. Carrocci, Ph.D., Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Michael Austin, Ph.D., Dean of Admissions John Clayton, and Admissions Counselor Jeff Van Dorn. Officials from Donnelly College included President Steve M. LaNasa, Dean of Student Affairs Donette Alonzo, MIHE, Vice President Frances Sanders, and various members of the college’s Board of Trustees.
“We are very excited to begin this partnership with Donnelly College,” said Newman’s President Carrocci. “The agreement will make it much easier for Donnelly students to transfer to Newman, and provide the support they need to be successful. We are very impressed with the commitment to high-quality education in the Catholic tradition that Donnelly exhibits, and believe its students will be a great addition to the Newman community.”
“I believe this partnership will change the lives of Donnelly students in the coming years by opening a door that perhaps many thought was not open for them,” said Donnelly’s Dr. LaNasa. “Because more than 90 percent of Donnelly’s associate degree graduates already go on to continue their education at a four-year institution, it will be exciting to see students now head south to Newman University to take advantage of an environment similar to Donnelly’s – most notably the student-centered, supportive faculty. I am confident that this dual-admissions program will assist students to transfer smoothly into a degree program at Newman, and the yearly scholarship is a critical component helping to make possible an education that is affordable.”
In addition to dual-admissions status and a hefty scholarship, students will receive academic advising from both institutions as well as degree audits from Newman University while they are at Donnelly to keep them on track with their degree plan.
For more information, contact Donnelly’s Marketing Coordinator Jennifer Price at
(913) 621-8707.
PHOTO
Front row, left to right: Newman University President Noreen Carrocci, Ph.D., Donnelly College President Steven LaNasa, Ph.D. Back row, left to right: Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Newman Michael Austin, Ph.D., Dean of Student Affairs at Donnelly Donette Alonzo, MIHE, and Vice President of Donnelly Frances Sanders.
About Newman University
Newman University is a Catholic, liberal arts university sponsored by the Adorers of the Blood of Christ for the purpose of empowering graduates to transform society. Named after Church leader and educator, John Henry Cardinal Newman, its primary focus is educating for life. Newman University provides for students the knowledge and skill to succeed personally and professionally, and nurtures an ethical and moral standard rooted in Judeo-Christian principles. For details, visit www.newmanu.edu.
About Donnelly College
Donnelly College, located in the heart of Kansas City, Kan., is an independent, coeducational, Catholic institution founded by the Benedictine Sisters of Mount St. Scholastica and sponsored by the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas. The College was established in 1949 to meet the needs of urban immigrants and the working class, with special focus on “those who might not otherwise be served.” Today, Donnelly continues that tradition by providing access and affordable education within a culture that promotes student success and by serving as the region’s only federally designated Minority Serving Institution and Hispanic Serving Institution. The Donnelly community is proud of the rich racial and ethnic diversity of our students, staff and faculty, and how that diversity supports its learning environment. Through a strong general education curriculum integrated with career-oriented majors, Donnelly College offers programs leading to bachelor’s and associate degrees and certificates. To learn more, visit www.donnelly.edu.