The Division of Student Affairs sees you through the transition to remote instruction. Our departments continue to engage with all students through our programs and resources to encourage you to achieve your full potential.
Please follow all our Instagram accounts to stay up to date with everything happening in our departments.
Read the latest Ram Roundup student newsletter for all events and opportunities.
Upcoming Announcements:
Exploring Entanglements: What Does it Mean to be a Sexual Citizen Podcast - Center for Women & Gender Equity Podcast Series
RamFam Podgram- Parent and Family Relations Podcast Series
WCU Wellcast- Wellness Promotion Podcast Series
Ongoing Support & Engagement:
Career Readiness
Check out Career Development Center Summer Success YouTube Series
Handshake wcupa.joinhandshake.com
Our virtual career platform is a great way to get connected with the office and to internships, full-time positions, and part-time opportunities. To the graduating class of Spring and Summer 2020, the TCDC is ready to help you transition successfully into the workforce or graduate/professional school. Students can get an online resume review in Handshake if you upload your resume to your profile.
- Schedule a phone or virtual appointment for assistance with major exploration, resumes, cover letters, graduate school applications, interviewing, and more.
- Upload your resume- we will review it and send feedback. Turn around times is 2 business days
- Connect with employers by searching for and applying to job/internship openings or attending virtual events.
Ram Nation ramnation.wcupa.edu
Building your professional network has never been more important. Ram Nation allows you to connect with alumni to:
- Schedule informational interviews
- Develop connections for mentorship in your field
- Participate in discussions on career topics or start your own by asking a question.
Big Interview wcupa.biginterview.com
This online system is an excellent interview preparation tool that combines practice and online content to help improve interview skills and build confidence.
Interstride Access through Handshake
This interactive career platform is designed to enhance the career exploration and job-search experience for international students.
Keep your career development going by setting goals and remaining actively engaged in your career journey. Please visit the Career Development Center to learn more and follow @wcu_tcdc on social media for continued updates regarding virtual services. Email us directly with any questions at: cdc@wcupa.edu
Health and Wellness
Yes, Student Health Services will be open Monday – Friday from 8 a.m. – 4 p.m. Services are available by appointment only. Telehealth appointments are also available. Students who need medical care should contact Student Health Services by phone at 610-436-2509.
Students who call with any of the following list of symptoms will be connected with an available nurse/provider for additional screening and triage. The nurse/provider will discuss symptoms and provide guidance for medical care per current CDC recommendations.
Fever without suspected etiology
- Cough
- Shortness of breath
- Sore throat
- Known exposure to someone with presumptive/confirmed Covid-19
- Any GI symptoms
- Loss of senses of taste or smell
Students with COVID-19 symptoms will be referred for testing following CDC and Pennsylvania
Department of Health guidance. Testing is available at Student Health Services. Additional
testing sites are available in Chester County and throughout Pennsylvania.
For more details, please visit Student Health Services Updates for updates regarding Health Center services and procedures. Protocols will be updated in accordance with any changes provided by health authorities.
Wellness Promotion engages students in individualized wellness coaching to help enhance well-being through goal setting, increased self-awareness, and acquisition of new knowledge and skills; opportunities to evaluate personal decision making about alcohol and cannabis use; as well as wellness programming, including peer to peer workshops, Wellness Wednesdays, the Ram Box and campus events. Stay up-to-date with the latest department events and information through following our social media pages:
@wcuwellnesspromotion on Instragram
WCU_Wellness on Twitter
WCU Wellness Promotion on Facebook
Campus Recreation will continue to engage students through RamConnect and our virtual newsletter.
Watch this video on reopening operations!
Summer Hours (start 5/17)
Monday - Friday 8:30am - 4pm
Saturday - CLOSED Sunday - CLOSED
If you have any questions, please email campusrecreation@wcupa.edu and we will respond in a timely manner. Follow us on Instagram (@wcupacampusrec) Follow us on Facebook (WCUPA Campus Recreation) for daily information.
In the current COVID-19 context, the Center for Contemplative Studies is offering free daily practices, live via Zoom, as well as a range of audio and video recorded practices. A full schedule, with links, is posted at so you can join quickly and easily. The Center's Director, Don McCown, leads a 30-minute meditation and dialogue Monday through Thursday at 9 AM. There are sessions featuring yoga, mindful movement, and dialogue, as well as shared reading and discussion. While most of these and other daytime sessions have always been free and open to the public, they are now available in real time to a wider audience. Everyone is welcome!
Women & Gender Equity
The Center for Women & Gender Equity has produced resources/referral guides for the campus community:
Podcast Exploring Entanglements: What Does it Mean to be a Sexual Citizen
Accessing Technology Resources
Internet Facilitated Sexual Violence
Remember to check the Women & Gender website and visit @wcu_cwge on instagram for more resources, support, and ways to connect.
Counseling Services
In these uncertain times, it is normal to experience increased feelings of stress, anxiety, depression, and other mental health concerns. As the university continues remote instruction in fall semester, the Counseling Center will be offering online counseling services to enrolled students. Although the Counseling Center doors will be open, all services will solely be online to protect the health and safety of students, staff, and faculty.
If interested in mental health services, students will need to go through our Triage hours which are Monday – Friday between 1-3pm. Unlike in previous years where students walked-in for triage, students should call the Counseling Center (610-436-2301) on the same day they are interested in scheduling a triage appointment. These appointments are on a first-come, first-served basis, so we encourage students to call earlier in the day to reserve their timeslot for that afternoon. If your call is not answered, please leave a message and we will return your call as soon as possible.
Triage appointments will be occurring via phone and students will be sent an email with forms to complete. These forms must be completed in order to participate in the triage phone call.
During the triage session, students will discuss their concerns and options for counseling moving forward. Options may include: short-term online counseling via Zoom Health with a Counseling Center counselor, online group counseling via Zoom Health with Counseling Center counselor(s), or obtaining off-campus referrals for longer-term or specialized counseling via our referral specialist (Janelle Silbert; jsilbert@wcupa.edu). If students know they are solely interested in off-campus referrals, they can contact Ms. Silbert directly.
Please be advised that due to licensure rules, we may be limited in our ability to provide online counseling to students who will be located outside of Pennsylvania in the fall semester.
If a student is experiencing a life-threatening mental health emergency during business hours (Monday – Friday from 8 AM – 4 PM) and they need to talk to someone immediately, please call the Counseling Center (610-436-2301). Students in crisis are able to come to the Counseling Center office, we ask to please call before entering so that health and safety measures can be taken.
A mental health emergency is defined as:
- Suicidal thoughts with plan and intent
- Homicidal thoughts with plan and intent to harm another
- Survivor of a recent traumatic event (e.g., victim of a mugging, sexual assault, recent death)
- Experiencing hallucinations (visual or auditory)
Check out this "Am I in Crisis" Handout
We will also continue to provide virtual outreach services. If a class or student organization is interested in an online workshop or training, please contact our outreach coordinator (Liz Carper; ecarper@wcupa.edu).
Resources for Coping with the impact of COVID-19 and other mental health concerns.
Please remember to check @wcucounselingcenter on instagram and @wcudogtherapy instagram for pictures and videos of our therapy dogs.
Community Engagement
The Office of Service-Learning and Volunteer Programs has a new name change! It will now be Center for Civic Engagement & Social Impact.
The WCU Resource Pantry supports student success by minimizing food and basic need security and preparing students for life after graduation.
How it Works
The Resource Pantry is open to ALL undergraduate and graduate students at West Chester
University, regardless of need level. No appointment necessary, walk-in’s are welcome
at any time during our hours of operation.
The Pantry offers non-perishable food, fresh produce from the campus gardens, personal care items, school supplies, and winter and career clothing.
Visiting the Pantry for the first time? A Pantry staff member will be happy to help you fill out our simple application form and show you around. After that, you are free to shop for whatever items you need.
Masks are required to enter. Questions? Please contact the us via pantry@wcupa.edu or by telephone (610)-436-2378.
Summer Hours: Mondays 2-7pm, Tuesdays 10:30am-6pm, Wednesdays 2-7pm, Thursdays 10:30am-6pm, Fridays 2-7pm. Follow the Pantry's instagram for updated hours.
Students in need of food during the break should consider visiting the community resources linked on the Pantry website: www.wcupa.edu/pantry
Ways You Can Help While Social Distancing
Social Justice & Anti-Racist Resources
Anti-Racist Resources
Resources for Black Individuals and Communities
To Read:
White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo
How to be an Anti-Racist by Ibram X. Kendi
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander
Divided Sisters by Kathy Russell, Midge Wilson
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
They Can't Kill Us All: Ferguson, Baltimore, and a New Era in America’s Racial Justice
Movement
by Wesley Lowery
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
Fatal Invention: How Science, Politics, and Big Business Re-create Race in the Twenty-First
Century
by Dorothy Roberts
Locking Up Our Own: Crime and Punishment in Black America by James Forman Jr.
The Miner's Canary: Enlisting Race, Resisting Power, Transforming Democracy by Lani Guinier, Gerald Torres
The Wretched of the Earth by Frantz Fanon
10 Books About Race To Read Instead Of Asking A Person Of Color To Explain Things To You
Making America White Again, by Toni Morrison
My President Was Black, by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Who Gets to Be Afraid in America?, by Ibram X Kendi
Trouble the Narrative, by Austin Channing Brown
Here's Why It Hurts When People Say, "All Lives Matter," by Mani S. Viney
To Watch:
13th (Netflix)
American Son (Netflix)
Dear White People (Netflix)
If Beale St Could Talk (Hulu)
King in the Wilderness (HBO)
See You Yesterday (Netflix)
The Hate You Give (Cinemax)
When They See Us (Netflix)
To Listen:
Momentum: A Race Forward Podcast
Pod for the Cause (Leadership Conf on Civil & Human Rights)
Pod Save the People (Crooked Media)
Seeing White
Parenting Forward podcast episode ‘Five Pandemic Parenting Lessons with Cindy Wang
Brandt’
Fare of the Free Child Podcast
A Detailed List of Anti-Racism Resources on Medium.com
21 Ways To Support Black Lives Matter If You Can’t Protest
Conferences for Women Resource Center for Confronting Racial Injustice
Leadership and Involvement
FAQ for Student Organizations - Spring 2021
We have over 300 student organizations and clubs to get involved with today. Visit RamConnect to explore the right group for you. Log into your RamConnect account to learn more about involvement opportunities and follow all of our social media accounts for various opportunities.
RamConnect 101 - Overview of some introductory features of RamConnect, West Chester University of Pennsylvania's online campus and community engagement management system.
Resources
Student Support Center: a new resource for students designed to serve as a one-stop for student information
Co-Curricular Planning Catalog
Hotline numbers and websites for survivors of sexual violence, domestic violence & other harm
COVID-19 Resources
Administration for Community Living
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (ongoing information and updates)
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Espanol)
Immigrants Rising: Tangible Support for Immigrant Communities During COVID-19
Philadelphia COVID Resource Guide
Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drug Use
Alcoholics Anonymous Online Group Meetings
American Lung Association Freedom From Smoking Cessation Program
In the Rooms Global Recovery Community
Opioid Treatment Program Directory (find treatment programs in your state that treat addiction and dependence on opioids)
PA Free Quitline (tobacco cessation)
We Connect Online Recovery Meetings
Emotional and Mental Health
Active Minds (includes information for supporting a friend)
Behavioral Health Treatment Services Locator
Mental Health America and COVID-19 - Information and Resources
National Alliance on Mental Illness
National Eating Disorders Contact Helpline
National Eating Disorders Free and Low Cost Support Options/Remote Options
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
SAMSHA's Disaster Distress Hotline
Taking Care of Your Behavioral Health During an Infectious Disease Outbreak Text TALK to 741-741
The Steve Fund: Managing Mental Health During the Coronavirus Pandemic (mental health and emotional well-being for students of color) Text STEVE to 741-741
The Trevor Project (crisis Intervention for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, & Questioning young people under 25) Text START to 678678 or Chat Now
Food Access and Nutrition
Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
Intimate Partner Violence and Survivor Support
Casa de Esperanza *English and Spanish available (Latinx Survivors)
Center for Asian Pacific Family *multiple languages (Asian & Pacific Islander Survivors)
Crime Victims Center of Chester County (Sexual Violence, Stalking & Other Crimes)
Delaware Victims' Rights Taskforce
DOD Safe Helpline (Military and Veteran Survivors- confidential)
Domestic Violence Center of Chester County
Hotline numbers and websites for survivors of sexual violence, domestic violence & other harm
National Domestic Violence Hotline Text LOVEIS to 22522
New Jersey Coalition Against Sexual Assault
New Jersey Coalition Against Domestic Violence
PA Domestic Violence Coalition
RAINN (Sexual Assault) Chat Now
The Network La Red (LGBTQ Domestic Violence)
Physical Activity
American College of Sports Medicine Staying Active During COVID-19
American Heart Association COVID-19 Resources
West Chester Group Fitness Instagram page