Audience Opinion Piece

J.F. Ingram State Technical College (ISTC) was established for the sole purpose of providing educational services to incarcerated individuals in the Alabama prison system.

Ingram State Technical College is the sole correctional career and technical education provider in the State of Alabama. Since the mid-1960’s, ISTC has offered adult education, career technical programming, and soft skills exclusively to justice-involved individuals.

In 2021, Ingram State Technical College opened its doors to students at Bibb Correctional Facility in Brent, Alabama to offer adult basic education and career technical programming with a focus on high-wage, high-demand career fields – carpentry, HVAC, electrical, and plumbing.

In addition to the new programming, Ingram State piloted its first Vocational Village – a dedicated dorm that only houses incarcerated individuals who are enrolled in educational programming.

The vocational village is a living and learning community inside the correctional facility. All residents of the dorm are educational-driven and share the same goals –program completion, reentry, and job placement.

“Ingram State Technical College is proud to collaborate with the Alabama Department of Corrections on the vocation village project,” said ISTC President Annette Funderburk. “With the help from correctional staff at Bibb we were able to transition a general population dorm to a top-performing educational dorm.”

In 2022, Auburn University performed an in-depth analysis about the vocational village project. Researchers interviewed three stakeholder groups: students, correctional officers, and ISTC instructors.

The study showed that students appreciate being housed in a separate location with other students whose focus is on coursework. One student stated, “Living in the education dorm lets us do some class work together as a community and being around people who want to better themselves.”

Correctional officers saw a vast difference in behavior from students who resided in the vocational village community compared to those in general population.

Bibb Instructional Service Center operates with the highest percentage of class enrollment compared to other instructional sites. The vocational village has transformed the educational experience for Bibb students and has a major impact on student engagement.

Ingram State is seeking to expand the vocational village concept to all major correctional facilities across the state. The model has proven to decrease violence and maintain a positive environment for learning.

Vocational Villages in Alabama’s correctional facilities, will be the catalyst to increasing enrollment and program completions at ISTC, integrating successful citizens into society, and reducing recidivism which Develop Responsible Citizens.