Jesuit Social Research Institute receives a $200,000 grant

Ascendium has awarded the college's Jesuit Social Research Institute (JSRI) with a $200,000 grant to lead a year-long planning initiative to assess and improve legal education and employment pathways for currently and formerly incarcerated individuals in Louisiana. JSRI's Executive Director Annie Phoenix reports that the project is rooted in the assumption that incarcerated individuals—particularly  counsel substitutes—play vital legal roles within prison communities but often lack access to formal education, credentials, or employment pathways that recognize their expertise. By engaging incarcerated learners, postsecondary institutions, legal employers, and corrections officials, the planning process will seek to co-design educational options - with a particular emphasis on stackable credentials -  that are responsive to learner needs, aligned with labor market opportunities, and grounded in justice.