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Associate Professor of Criminal Justice

Director of the Second Chance College Program

Education

Ph.D., John Jay College of Criminal Justice/The CUNY Graduate Center
M.A., John Jay College of Criminal Justice/The CUNY Graduate Center
B.A., Seton Hall University

Cantora’s primary research interests are focused on issues related to incarceration, prison reentry, and urban crime prevention. Since 2002, Cantora has conducted research in prisons, jails and community correction settings in New Jersey, New York and Maryland. Cantora previously worked as a research associate at John Jay’s Research and Evaluation Center, and the Vera Institute of Justice’s Center on Sentencing and Corrections. Her work has been published in the Journal of Offender Rehabilitation, the Journal of Qualitative Criminal Justice and Criminology, Criminal Justice Studies and American Journal of Criminal Justice.

Recent Projects:

  • Cantora is currently the director of the University’s Second Chance College Program offered at Jessup Correctional Institution. This program is part of the national experiment under the U.S. Department of Education’s Second Chance Pell Grant Experimental Sites Initiative.
  • Cantora is an advocate for expanding access to post-secondary education in prison and has recently published a chapter on "Second Chance Pell: Policy, Politics, and Programs" in the edited book Education for Liberation: The Politics of Promise and Reform Inside and Beyond America's Prisons. Eds. Robinson, G. and English, E. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.
  • Cantora has worked with the Baltimore City Mayor’s Office on Criminal Justice, and the Baltimore Neighborhood Indicator’s Alliance on a U.S. Justice Department, Bureau of Justice Assistance, Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation Grant. This project involves using data-driven strategies to reduce crime in the East Baltimore neighborhood of McElderry Park. Cantora has conducted focus groups and surveys in the neighborhood to understand how residents perceive local community issues.
  • Cantora, A., Iyer, S., & *Restivo, L. (2015) Understanding drivers of crime in East Baltimore: Resident perceptions of why crime persists. American Journal of Criminal Justice (Published online, November 25, 2015).
  • Cantora is also a trained Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program instructor. Inside-Out is a national program developed at Temple University in 1997. The Inside-Out course, an elective taught in the School of Criminal Justice, brings UBalt students into prisons to learn side-by-side with incarcerated students.

Corrections, prison reentry, impact of incarceration on communities

Research methods, institutional corrections, community corrections

Intellectual Contributions

Book Chapters

Cantora, A., & Aseltine, E. (2020). Supporting formerly incarcerated people within institutions of higher education.. IGI Global.

Presentations

Cantora, A. National Conference on Higher Education in Prison, "Confessions from Prison College Program Directors," Alliance for Higher Education in Prison, Atlanta, Georgia. (2023).

Cantora, A. Chronicle for Higher Education Webinar, "The Faculty Experience with Incarcerated Students," Chronicle for Higher Education, online. (2023).

Cantora, A. Beyond Confinement: Rethinking Corrections and Rehabilitation in Maryland, "Unlocking Potential through Correctional Education," The University of Baltimore Law School and Maryland Alliance for Justice Reform, University of Baltimore. (2023).

Contracts, Grants and Sponsored Research

Cantora, Andrea , "Second Chance College Program Entrepreneurship Fund" Sponsored by Anonymous, Private, $229000. (2023 - 2026).

Cantora, Andrea , "Funding for Second Chance College Program" Sponsored by Judy Family Foundation, Private, $10000. (2023 - 2024).

Cantora, Andrea , "Alliance for Higher Education in Prison, Community Cohort" Sponsored by Alliance for Higher Education in Prison, Private, $20000. (2023 - 2024).

Research in Progress

"College Faculty and Staff Perceptions of Students with Criminal Records." (On-Going)
With the restoration of Pell Grants for incarcerated people more students with criminal records will be obtaining college degrees on campuses across the country. Many campuses already serve this population through prison education programming, and on campus initiatives that focus on providing support to justice-impacted students. The purpose of the study is to understand faculty and staff’s perceptions of serving and teaching those with criminal records. The results of this research may have practical implications for college campuses to create more inclusive environments where students with criminal records feel welcomed, valued, and provided with the same opportunities as students without a criminal history.

"Examining Academic Success of Formerly Incarcerated Students" (On-Going)
The purpose of this research project is to study the pathway to campus for students enrolled in University of Baltimore’s Second Chance College Program. Specifically, this project will seek to understanding the various aspects of reentry that help or hinder formerly incarcerated students ability to continue their college education. Participants of the Second Chance Program will be recruited for this study.

"Mentally Ill Prisoners" (On-Going)
Book Chapter in the Handbook of Offenders with Special Needs for Routledge