Office of External Programs

Administrative Staff

E. Lynn Addison, Associate Provost for External Programs
Byron Esley Edens, Georgia Baptist Bible Institute (GBBI) Recruiter
Roger C. Byrd, Prison Education Program Director

James R. Collins, Coordinator of the Prison Education Program

Sara Strickland, Director of Georgia Dual Enrollment & International Programs
Office of Enrollment Services

Cassidy O’Neal, Georgia Dual Enrollment Program Counselor
Office of Enrollment Services

Prison Program

Brewton-Parker Christian University was selected by the U.S. Department of Education as a participating institution in the “Pell for Students Who Are Incarcerated Experiment” (a/k/a “Second Chance Pell”). This renewed source of federal financial assistance through the Pell grant, formerly known as the Basic Educational Opportunity Grant, opens doors of hope for inmates who despair in locked cells.

It also allows the university to expand its Prison Program from a small ministry operating with volunteers to an educational program that provides incarcerated adults with a sustainable and affordable means to earn a degree in preparation for their release. Currently we offer programs for five institutions within the Georgia Department of Corrections - Coffee Correctional Facility in Nicholls, Emanuel Women’s Facility in Swainsboro, Johnson State Prison in Wrightsville, Telfair State Prison in McRae-Helena, and Wheeler Correctional Facility in Alamo.

National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Program

The National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Program was established by Congress in 1993 to transform the lives of young men and women between the ages of 16 and 18 who are experiencing difficulty in completing traditional high school. This legislative intent resonates strongly with the university’s mission “to provide a transformational experience that equips the whole student for lifelong learning and service in Christ.”

To that end the university partners with two of Georgia’s three Youth ChalleNGe Academies, one at Fort Stewart, located near Savannah and the other at Fort Gordon near Augusta. The youth enrolled in the annual cohorts at these two academies earn credits in dual-enrollment courses offered by Brewton-Parker that later they will be able to transfer to a two- or a four-year university degree program. We count as a blessing the opportunity to participate in this way in giving a fresh start to the leaders of tomorrow.

Georgia Dual Enrollment Program

The Georgia Dual Enrollment Program (GDEP) provides opportunities for eligible students to enroll part- or full- time in postsecondary institutions and take university courses to earn high school and college credit simultaneously. Currently, over twenty high schools, both public and private, as well as many homeschool students, participate with Brewton-Parker Christian University in the state-funded GDEP initiative.