Inside-Out Steering Committee Meeting

Katie D.

January 16, 2011 - 11:25 AM

This upcoming Thursday-Sunday I will be traveling to Philadelphia to participate in the National Steering Committee meeting for the Inside-Out Program. We will be discussing the major program development plans for the upcoming year, and working on a number of initiatives to establish around the country. I am thrilled to be able to participate and even more excited that I will be going as an official Inside-Out alumni and representative of the University of Oregon and the Clark Honors College. After a year and a half of working with many of these Inside-Out staff and instructors from across the country, I will finally have an opportunity to meet many of them in person for the first time.

Inside-Out has a truly unique leadership model. At the individual universities that host Inside-Out across the country, the instructors are expected to take the lead in establishing the program and ensuring program quality and sustainability. The National Headquarters for the program, located at Temple University, provide the training for new instructors, establish program regulations and develop new projects, and provide logistical support. The Graterford Think Tank serves to direct the program's direction and to serve as advisers from their unique perspective as incarcerated members of the program. The men on the Think Tank also run a large piece of the training, and contribute to the decisions of rules and policies for the program.

The Steering Committee is in place to provide the leadership for a geographically diverse program, to implement new ideas and expand the program's offerings. Many members of the Steering Committee are also members of the Research Committee. Most members are instructors, but some are also community members.

Inside-Out alumni activities are just beginning to expand throughout the country. We are at such an exciting moment, with projects like the Serbu Book Club in Eugene, and a developing Re-Entry program in Philadelphia. I've been working with staff and alumni at the National Headquarters to support alumni initiatives and encourage new groups, as well as to establish alumni parameters and guidelines. We've worked really hard to maintain all Inside-Out Program goals and rules in the new context of student leadership and stand-alone programs inspired by Inside-Out classes.

Now we have a chance to receive official approval for the documents we've generated and projects we've established.

In addition to the work on alumni-related projects, I will be participating in the full Steering Committee meeting. I am anticipating a fantastically busy weekend, full of meetings, breakout groups, sub committees, and time spent at Graterford Prison to coordinate our efforts with the men on the Think Tank. Again, after a year and a half of conference calls with these individuals, I am thrilled to be heading to Philadelphia to get things done in person.

People will be attending from across the country. In addition to other Oregon instructors and individuals, there will be instructors from Amherst, Georgetown, Emory, Xavier, Occidental, and American Baptist College. People are coming from the Midwest, the South, and a variety of locations in the Northeast.

I've never attended a meeting of this scope. I've certainly never commuted across the country to do so. I am so incredibly excited to meet these people, to get work done, and to have this powerful group of people working with me to further this program that has made such a difference in my life.

Wish me luck this weekend! I'll be reporting back next week.