The Committee on College Pathways for Mothers with Justice Involvement is rooted in the capstone research of Dr. Lesley Neff, Lived Experiences of Formerly Incarcerated Mothers: Navigating Societal Stigmas and Barriers Impeding Their Pathways to Pursue Higher Education, and extends that work into action. The committee’s aim is to create a nationally recognized model of inclusion and support for justice-involved mothers in higher education.
Justice involved mothers collaborate with university faculty and staff to create a compassionate, confidence building infrastructure that empowers them to re-enter college. Specifically, this group:
To build support structures and relationships to support successful entry into college by:
These events are designed to welcome mothers with justice involvement and incarceration experience to Marian University and to help prepare them to return to college, so they may feel empowered to build the capacity needed to work within the stigma and push past the stereotypes, and all are welcome. These events may be hosted on campus, at local organizations and non-profits and offered virtually and may include local non-profit partners and Marian University faculty and staff, providing knowledge, support and services to help all potential students with justice involvement build capacity within themselves and establish relationships needed to develop a comfort level in a post-secondary environment. These events were inspired by Neff’s doctorate capstone intervention in 2023 and is informed by the pre-diagnostic work conducted with mothers returning to college and existing literature on barriers, programs and support services offered at other institutions of higher education across the nation.
The Workshop Series consists of multiple virtual sessions designed and delivered to minimize obstacles, build capacity and establish relationships needed to develop a comfort level in a post-secondary environment; topics of the virtual sessions include admissions, financial aid, technology, library research and services, online platforms and mock college course, video conferencing, mentoring and roundtable discussions on internal barriers, such as college self-efficacy, stigma, self-stigmatization, and internal lines of code. Staff, faculty and mothers who are students with justice involvement join the appropriate sessions to guide discussion and deliver content. This virtual series was inspired by Neff’s doctorate capstone intervention in 2023 and is informed by the pre-diagnostic work conducted and existing literature on barriers, programs and support services for students with justice involvement.
This series is designed to raise awareness and prepare students for re-entry into higher education. Topics include:
The research demonstrated the critical need for mentoring and peer support upon re-entry and along pathways to college, so this became a priority initiative when the Committee was formed in August 2023. The mentoring program is designed to achieve the mission and vision of the Committee on College Pathways for Mothers with Justice Involvement by emphasizing the mutual impact the mentor and student can experience. The structure is created to build and maintain a two-way partnership of giving and accepting. A mentoring guide explains how the program operates, the roles and expectations of mentor and mentee, strategies, and advice for creating a two-way mentoring relationship.
The reciprocal mentoring program is designed to support participants as they set achievable goals for their academic and professional growth and learn skills to build social capital and build confidence and competence, informed by Collen McKenna’s framework for collaborative mentoring.
The Committee is rooted in the capstone research of Dr. Lesley Neff, Lived Experiences of Formerly Incarcerated Mothers: Navigating Societal Stigmas and Barriers Impeding Their Pathways to Pursue Higher Education, and extends that work into action. The aim is to create a nationally recognized model of inclusion and support for justice-involved mothers in higher education.
This qualitative research study used a phenomenological approach to explore the lived experiences of formerly incarcerated mothers in Indiana, as they navigate their return to the college classroom, given the stigma attached to justice involved individuals and motherhood.
This study investigated the external obstacles faced by this non-traditional population through their lived experiences and how these obstacles uniquely impacted their fears, insecurities, identities and self-image and the influence of the distinct hardships in pursuing the steps needed to return to college.
This study also investigated how equipped institutions of higher education are to serve this population and help to clear their paths, whether by “banning the box” on admissions applications or providing the needed support and services to formerly incarcerated mothers, so they can increase their emotional capacity to pursue their educational goals. Through pre-diagnostic work and research, these internal barriers emerged to be particularly intriguing – how does fear of judgment, anxiety and low self-esteem prevent formerly incarcerated and justice involved mothers from a post-secondary education? How do external obstacles impact internal barriers, and how would the lessening of external obstacles lighten internal barriers? Which services and programs to put in place to help these mothers find ways to make progress within themselves and build their own capacity to excel through the stigma? Why is post-secondary education so important, and why should our institutions and communities care? Data was collected and analyzed via questionnaires, observations at a live workshop, a group debrief on Webex and one-on-one interviews with workshop participants to understand the impact of the interventions designed for the population of participants and improve the lived experiences of mothers with incarceration experience while pursuing college.
While the focus is on mothers, all students with justice involvement are welcome and included in our programming and wrap-around support services.
For additional information on the study or the committee work, please contact Lesley Neff, M.A., Ed.D., Executive Director of Online Innovation, Marian Online & Co-Director of the Committee on College Pathways for Mothers with Justice Involvement, lneff@marian.edu
Lesley Neff has been with Marian University for 18 years and currently serves as Executive Director of Online Innovation - Marian Online, leading the online faculty and working in project and program management, curriculum development, online course design and development, research and community outreach. Neff graduated from Purdue University, in Lafayette, Indiana, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and English. Her Master of Arts degree, in English, is from Butler University, with a concentration in literature. She completed Marian's Ed.D. in Organizational Leadership in August of 2023.
Neff co-founded the Women’s College Partnership with Marian University and Bard College in 2019. She co-coordinates and volunteers in the Beyond Learning Pre-College Program at the Indiana Women's Prison and co-leads the Committee on College Pathways for Mothers with Justice Involvement.
Gay Lynn Crossley is an associate professor of English at Marian University. Having taught a range of writing courses, from first-year writing to professional writing to creative nonfiction, she supports writers. Her publications and presentations have focused on writing program administration, artist editions as writing portfolios, and teacher reflection. Gay Lynn has taught writing classes in Marian’s Women’s College Partnership at the Indiana Women’s Prison and is co-coordinator of the Committee’s Mentor Program for mothers with justice involvement returning to college.
Stacy Wriston is a marketing leader with deep expertise in driving growth across professional education brands. As Senior Director of Marketing at Colibri Group, she leads cross-functional strategies that support ongoing education and licensure for real estate and construction professionals.
Stacy’s passion for lifelong learning extends beyond her marketing career. For over 15 years, she has served as adjunct faculty for Marian Online - Marian University’s online programs, teaching writing, English, and literature within the humanities. This dual perspective—as both educator and marketer—fuels her commitment to delivering meaningful educational experiences that support professionals at every stage of their careers.
She specializes in brand positioning, performance marketing, content strategy, and lifecycle engagement, and is known for building high-performing teams and systems that deliver measurable impact across channels and business units.
Joyce Horton, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor of Biology and Chemistry in College of Arts and Science. Dr. Horton has been at Marian University for over 14 years dedicated to empowering students on main campus, Marian University Online, and St. Joseph. She received a B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Michigan, a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Wayne State University in the School of Medicine and completed her postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Michigan School of Medicine in the Department of Physiology. Dr. Horton enjoys advising students and helping them to plan their time at Marian to prepare them for their continued success once they leave Marian University. Dr. Horton is the co-advisor for Sigma Zeta, a National Science and Math Honor Society. A very active group on campus that brings speakers to campus gives students an opportunity to travel to the national meeting and present their research and give opportunities for community service. When she is not teaching Dr. Horton enjoys spending time with her family and friends, being outside hiking, biking and enjoying nature.
Lisa Hochstetler earned her Associate of Arts degree from Marian University’s Women’s College Partnership. She continued her education in Marian University Online programs and graduated in August 2023 with a Bachelor of Arts in Health and Human Services. She currently works as a Peer Support Professional for Oaklawn Psychiatric Center and is a mother of four adult daughters and two English bulldogs, 3 year old Major and 2 year old Minnesota, and a grandmother to four grandchildren.
Lisa’s passion for the law and helping others inspired her to return to college a third time for an Associate of Science in Paralegal Studies at Marian University. She has trained ICAN service dogs, worked with juveniles in the court system and women’s recovery homes by sharing her story and the importance of college in prison; she volunteers her time clearing pathways for mothers with justice involvement to return to college. Lisa co-authored Who Would Believe a Prisoner, which has received nationwide attention and has been an invited guest speaker for non-profits and universities, including Notre Dame about the importance of college in prison and motivational speaker at ICAN fundraiser, Wine and Wags.
Lisa is a member of the Committee for Pathways for Justice Involved Mothers at Marian University and dedicates her time to clearing pathways for mothers to return to college. Lisa’s power to overcome hardships and motivate others over obstacles is inspiring.
For three decades, Angela Phelps’s life was marked by substance use, leading to a revolving door of incarceration for many years. She intimately understands the challenges of this cycle and the effects it has had on her two daughters. The multiple barriers her justice-system involvement created challenges that were hard to navigate without proper support.
A profound turning point occurred during her final incarceration, when her true journey of healing and recovery began. Angela became a certified peer recovery coach upon her return home. For several years, she worked in direct services, focusing on mothers involved with the justice system. More recently, she serves as an adjunct facilitator for MHAI Stanley DeKemper Institute, training future recovery coaches.
Angela dedicates her time to advocating for the removal of barriers to higher education for the justice-involved population, convinced that it is a critical tool to lift families out of poverty. Her advocacy has included sitting on panels, being a guest speaker on WFYI’s All In, and speaking at numerous events on the issue.
Angela furthered her educational journey, earning a Master of Arts in Leadership Practices in May 2025 and currently pursuing a Doctorate in Organizational Leadership at Marian University. Her academic research, deeply rooted in personal experiences, focuses on formerly incarcerated mothers and explores the transformative capacity of LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® (LSP). The LSP methodology has demonstrated promising potential in reducing the fear of failure among these mothers. Her ultimate goal is to design gender-responsive interventions that promote healing by mitigating self-stigma and negative self-labeling, barriers that often prevent mothers from pursuing life-changing opportunities. Angela remains committed to a continuous process of growth and healing, both for herself and by extending tools to others with similar lived experiences as a form of living amends.
Dr. Noelany Pelc is an Assistant Professor at Marian University in the Department of Psychological Science & Counseling and an advisor in the Psychology Club & Psi Chi. She is also the Conferences Liaison for Advancement for Women in Psychology and Co Editor-In Chief of Women & Therapy.
Dr. Pelc is a Counseling Psychologist registered in the states of New York and Indiana, with experience working with women and children who experienced Intimate Partner Violence, Latinx women in outpatient settings, college counseling settings, and inpatient/residential settings focusing on addiction and mental health concerns.
Zaynab is a mother of two girls and one boy. She was employed at the Marion County Prosecutor Office for about 3 years and continues to be involved in various programs that advocate for individuals with previous involvement within the criminal justice system. She is currently working at ResCare Healthcare in a group home which compliments her passion for helping others who strive for a second chance at life. Zaynab has been volunteering as a committee member on the Committee on College Pathways for Mothers with Justice Involvement since its formation in August of 2023; she co-leads the Mentor Program with faculty member, Dr. Gay Lynn Crossley. Zay’s favorite part about this journey on the Committee is hearing students’ stories and what they did to overcome obstacles by continuing their education, finding housing and affordable job opportunities. She is eager to engage with students who begin their educational journeys and to continue her work on the Mentor Program.
