As the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in the creation of a “new normal,” the Munroe-Meyer Institute’s commitment to excellence in education has not wavered. We continue to teach classes online and provide clinical experiences and supervision virtually.
Our online courses have included many integral units, including courses on development across the lifespan, psychotherapeutic Interventions, grantsmanship, Applied Behavior Analysis, medical genetics and others.
As a part of our commitment to excellence in education, MMI also has recruited new classes of graduate students, long-term clinical rotation interns and fellows for the 2020-21 academic year. There will be a total of 48 new learners joining us at MMI this year, including new psychology and ABA interns, master’s degree students in the joint ABA program between MMI/UNO, new LEND and UCEDD trainees, psychology fellows and more. Catrina Filkin and the MMI Office of Student Services is actively preparing to conduct a virtual orientation for the new students on July 1.
Training curricula are being constantly updated and enhanced to emphasize interdisciplinary and team-based training experiences. As educators, we emphasize understanding life-span intellectual developmental disabilities, embracing family-centered care and demonstrating core clinical competencies. To that end, some of this fall’s courses will include ethics and law, human genetics, behavior analysis and intervention, and program evaluation.
Through the COVID-19 pandemic, MMI also has remained committed to training and technical assistance for the local, state and regional community. We’ve offered both new and continuing information sessions on topics such as transition, tele-mental health, self-determination and others.
It is a time of challenge and change, certainly. But MMI’s commitment to educating the providers of the future will never change, and through the commitment and versatility of our faculty and staff, we have risen to the challenge of fulfilling our academic mission.
A final thought on the events surrounding the tragic death of George Floyd and what this means for our educators at MMI. As an academic enterprise dedicated to excellence in education, we are challenging ourselves to provide professional development training for our faculty and curricula for our students that increase awareness of racism, privilege, and inequity right here in our own community and to build systems that promote diversity, inclusion, and access.
Keith Allen
Director of Academic Affairs
Director, Department of Psychology
The Munroe-Meyer Institute