As the widespread uncertainty and impact of COVID-19 continues to evolve, we want to let everyone know what we're doing to ensure the health and safety of our students, faculty, staff, and the communities we serve.
The buildings are closed. We're still open.
In compliance with orders from local and state health officials, our buildings will remain closed until further notice. Now more than ever, we recognize the importance of work we do together to promote both physical and mental health, and of the necessary support we bring to our communities.
All members of our faculty and staff are working remotely and remain fully available. All in-person events and gatherings have been moved to a virtual platform. Individual student meetings, faculty and staff meetings, and committees are continuing online.
Classes are in session.
All students in both the clinical and counseling programs have transitioned to a temporary online class model. We recognize that this has been a major shift for students, faculty, and staff, and we praise everyone for their outstanding effort, commitment, flexibility, and emotional resilience. While we look forward to the day that we can return to all in-person instruction, we are confident that we can continue in this manner for as long as required.
Reach out for help. Reach out to help.
We know that for many, this is both a major disruption to everyday life and a deeply stressful situation. A crisis like this calls into focus the importance of both mental and physical health. Loneliness and isolation can be detrimental to well-being, especially for those in our community who are at high-risk. If you are struggling, or feeling isolated or alone, please reach out to someone you feel connected to--an instructor, advisor, staff member, peer, student mentor, or administrator. And if you feel more resourced, please reach out to your peers and colleagues to check in, so that we can help each other while we're sheltering in place.
International Students
During this crisis, F-1 students can study online as well as study from their own countries while maintaining their F-1 visas. This is not usually allowed but is being relaxed during the COVID-19 outbreak. Please bear in mind, however, that students leaving the United States may not be permitted to return for an unspecified period of time. However, the Wright Institute will allow students to continue their studies via distance learning until such time that we can all return to classroom attendance.
Parents/Caregivers
We want to acknowledge the incredible amount of additional stress placed on students, faculty, and staff who are caring for children or others at home who require attention and/or home-schooling, and compete for your attention to work and school. The faculty and administration continue to discuss the unique needs of caregivers during this time, and to work with students, faculty, and staff to create individualized accommodations.
Practicum
The Wright Institute has been supporting the practicum sites we work with in making the transition to telehealth psychotherapy via phone and or video sessions. Some agencies have been able to adapt most activities to be done online, while others have moved to phone check-ins and other ways of reaching out to the vulnerable communities served.
Training has moved online with very little interruption. We are all exploring how to stay connected and combat the anxiety and isolation that this crisis brings, practicing self-care while developing creative clinical interventions.
We are listening carefully to what is being proposed by the Board of Psychology, Board of Behavioral Sciences, training councils, and the professional associations who provide leadership and advocacy for our professions. Contingency plans are being explored as we adjust to, and anticipate, the many changes ahead.
Clinical Services
The Wright Institute Clinical Services remains committed to supporting the emotional wellbeing and resilience of our surrounding community. Our clinical services quickly transitioned to offering telehealth psychotherapy. This is a time when the community needs us, and we're adapting to meet the need.
Admissions
Application review and processing for our counseling program continues on schedule, and deadlines remain unchanged; however we have moved all admissions interviews to Zoom until further notice. If you submit a completed application and are invited to interview, we will work with you to schedule a one-on-one video interview with a member of our faculty and you will receive our admissions decision within two weeks of completing your interview.
Please let us know if there's anything we can do to provide information or support as you work on your application. Contact us at admissions@wi.edu.
We'll get through this together.
Together, let's stay safe, healthy, and supportive of one another. Since 1968, the Wright Institute has been deeply committed to providing an intellectually stimulating community as well as a supportive and rewarding experience to all of its students, faculty, and staff members. With this background our graduates have gone on to successful careers making a difference in the lives of the individuals and communities they serve. COVID-19 has not halted this pursuit. During these challenging times, the Wright Institute is more certain than ever that such aims must be preserved so that when the COVID-19 outbreak subsides, our community will emerge stronger and better able to fulfill our mission of educating students to be critical thinkers and ethical problem solvers, to address community and societal needs, and to function effectively as professionals in a diverse society.