The university campus
In December 2003, the University of Padua signed a memorandum of understanding with the Department of Penitentiary Administration of the Ministry of Justice aimed at bringing university education to the prison environment, promoting a degree courses dedicated to people in detention throughout the Triveneto area.
The project involves all adult prisons in Veneto, Friuli Venezia Giulia and Trentino Alto Adige. Due to its territorial location, the "Due Palazzi" penal institution in Padua, the only prison in the Veneto region, was identified and then elected as the main campus of the academic activities held in prison.
In 2013, the project, already consolidated in the local environment, was enriched thanks to the signing of the Declaration of Intent which recognizes the University of Padua as a leader in sharing similar training experiences throughout the country.
The Project currently also aims to involve students in external penal execution and post-incarceration.
The Polo Universitario, properly so-called, is a section of the Padua prison specifically dedicated to university study in which a dozen incarcerated students live.
The structural, logistical and organizational characteristics of this ad hoc section aim to offer a conciliatory environment for study (common areas, extended visiting hours for teachers and tutors, internet connection according to limitations, library, etc.).
All students enrolled at the University are supported in the various study activities thanks to the services offered by the Tutoring sector of the Student Services Office, which promotes meetings with University tutors and teaching staff, as well as planning teaching cycles to support some courses and offering the possibility of taking exams at the premises of the prison with the presence of regular examination commissions, specially appointed.
Student Services Office - Tutoring
via Portello 19, 35129 Padua
tutor.carcere@unipd.it
