College of Arts and Sciences Newsroom

By Skylar Christian ’25

The Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program offers a unique and transformative learning experience for University of Dayton students in the social work, sociology and criminal justice fields.

Since 2016, the program has given “outside” students — those attending the University — the opportunity to engage in dialogue alongside “inside” students, who are residents of correctional facilities. 

UD’s Department of Criminal Justice and Security Studies and Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Social Work offer Inside-Out programs. Courses are offered during the spring semester and explore restorative justice and social issues, offering students a chance to explore real-world situations that go beyond textbooks and lectures.

The University offers free college credit to “inside” students who participate in the program, supporting Inside-Out’s mission to make higher education and learning widely accessible.

Susybel Kallsen, assistant professor and instructor for the criminal justice studies Inside-Out program, said the experiential learning program creates a sense of equality and allows participants to encounter each other as peers.

“When you walk into that classroom, everyone is a student, nothing else matters,” Kallsen said. “We should embrace them as students, as opposed to what the criminal justice system has labeled them.”

Molly Malany Sayre, associate professor of social work, serves as the instructor for the sociology department’s Inside-Out program. She said bringing inside and outside students together for engaged and informed dialogue allows for transformative learning experiences that invite participants to take leadership in addressing poverty, discrimination and other issues of social concern.

UD students, who are required to pass a background check, meet with the students in the correctional facility once a week for three hours and discuss topics such as restorative justice, the treatment of inmates and global societal issues.

Kennedy Madry, a junior sociology major from Cincinnati, was motivated to participate in the program by a strong desire to work in the prison system.

“I was excited but also a little nervous,” Madry said. “But once I started talking to one of the inside students, we immediately connected. They were so inviting and friendly.” 

Madry said she and the Inside students connected over pop culture, such as the popular TV show, Wild N' Out. 

The international Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program was founded in 1997 at Temple University in Pennsylvania and has since expanded to more than 150 colleges and universities across the country. 

The classroom format includes sitting in Socratic seminar circles and often moving chairs to engage with different people in smaller groups for other activities pertaining to assigned readings. 

“When we break out into smaller groups, inside and outside students are able to have a normal conversation just like we would in a classroom here on campus,” said Myla Keller, a junior criminal justice studies major from Canton, Ohio. “Everyone is understanding, respectful and listens to what others are saying.”

Sayre said the learning environment is designed to engage both the intellectual and emotional aspects of students. “The environment of a correctional facility, with its new sights and sounds, creates a different learning experience, one that fosters connections and insights that may not occur in a more traditional educational setting,” she said.

The Inside-Out program is also beneficial for the inside students.

“Incarcerated students who participate in the Inside-Out program find a space to critically reflect on the justice system — where their thoughts are both encouraged and constructively challenged,” Kallsen said. “They also gain valuable writing skills that empower them beyond the classroom, supporting their transition from incarceration to meaningful employment.” 

Beyond academics, the Inside-Out program reflects UD’s educational mission as a force for social justice and transformation for the common good.

“The Inside-Out programs are an expression of UD’s Catholic, Marianist values, that we see education as not limited to campus and not limited to students who enroll through only traditional mechanisms,” Sayre said. 

Skylar Christian, a senior criminal justice studies major from Newcomerstown, Ohio, is a participant in UD’s 2025 Inside-Out program.