Often as a result of HEPI courses, students organize programming at the prison, including a peer-led mentorship program and an end-of-life advocacy program.
Many HEPI courses, especially Inside-Out courses, ask students to create proposals for programming at the prison. Students sometimes pursue these proposals after the class ends and successfully create new opportunities for themselves and their peers.
Students in an Inside-Out drama course proposed a peer-led mentorship program for their final group project. Participants in the mentorship program completed training with a facilitator from the WVU Purpose Center. Mentors reflected on their personal values, strengths, motivations, goals, and leadership styles and learned techniques that build rapport and trust. The mentors developed an additional curriculum to teach these new methods of thinking to mentees in the program.
Plentiful creative writing and art have been created in WVU programming, which appears in the organization newsletter, the on-campus office with permission from students, and on the website.
The Compassionate Advocacy Program emerged from a WVU Inside-Out Criminology course. Participants complete a death doula training course that provides detailed instruction on how to provide compassionate care to people with chronic illness or those nearing death. Trained advocates assist people in the Medical Unit by providing companionship and helping with access to books, letter-writing, and art materials.
Students have also worked to create a podcast, a gardening program, and improved vocational programming.