The Villanova Undergraduate Program at SCI-Graterford began about 30 years ago through the efforts of Dr. James McKenna, a sociology professor at Villanova. Dr. McKenna, now Professor Emeritus, recently retired as the Director of the Graduate Program in Criminal Justice Administration. Although Dr. McKenna continues to teach a course on Race and Ethnicity at Graterford, Dr. Stanley Jacobs assumed the direction of the Graterford and Graduate Programs about 5 years ago.

There are 100 students in the Villanova Undergraduate program at SCI-Graterford. In this program, Villanova offers two courses in the fall and two in the spring semesters. The courses follow the Villanova academic calendar, satisfy the same standards and requirements as on-campus courses, and are usually taught by Villanova faculty. Occasionally, a qualified adjunct will offer a course. Since 2003, William Perthes, a Violette de Mazia Foundation senior instructor, has taught a course entitled “The Objective Approach to Art and Aesthetic Theory,” allowing the Foundation to partner with Villanova in offering education to prison inmates.

The curriculum at SCI-Gratefrord is Villanova’s regular 120-hour liberal arts program, offered on a part-time basis. Two students from the SCI-Graterford program graduated in 2002; three in 2003.