WeCU Student Support

We See You online engagement resources banner

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 of our Student Services 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

WCU Wellcast- Wellness Promotion Podcast Series

RamConnect Calendar of Events

Ongoing Support & Engagement:

Career Readiness

The Twardowski Career Development Center is offering all of our services and resources virtually through Handshake to continue to help students. Virtual Resources for your Career Development

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

Virtual Survivor Support

Accessing Technology Resources

Survivor Support

Internet Facilitated Sexual Violence

Student Caregiving Resources

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.

Division of Student Affairs