Admissions and Client Experience Update (10/2024)

Hello Graduates,

We hope this communication finds you well! With the change of season, we wanted to provide a few updates and reminders…

Student Training Update

We are excited to share that Guiding Eyes has recently moved to increasing on-campus class sizes to six students, which is a welcome change from our previous class size of four people each. Some of you are already aware of this update if you have attended on-campus training in the last few months. We’ve heard positive feedback from our recent graduates who have enjoyed the comradery of a larger class, along with greater opportunities for mixing first-time students with returning grads, which affords additional learning moments, peer to peer. We will continue to hold class with the same 2:1 student to instructor ratio that has been so well received by our graduates. And, class length will continue at 13 days long, including travel.

Home trainings will continue to be offered on a limited, case-by-case basis to students with extenuating circumstances who otherwise cannot attend on-campus training. Please know that the wait times for home trainings, which are typically longer than on-campus trainings, will most likely be increased somewhat due to our change with on-campus classes. We will, however, continue to communicate with our current applicants and graduates on anticipated timing.

Resources/Graduate Center

We heard and acknowledge there have been difficulties accessing our Graduate Center on the website. In response to this feedback, the Graduate Center is now accessible via a “Graduates” tab on the GEB website main page. Here you will find helpful resource guides, like our recently added Guide to Airline Travel and Guide to Retirement, class lectures and much more!

Here are some helpful direct links that you can bookmark:

Direct link to Graduate Center: 
Graduate Center – Guiding Eyes for the Blind 

Direct link to Class Lectures:  
Class Lectures – Guiding Eyes for the Blind 

Direct link to Graduate News Blog: 
Graduate News – Guiding Eyes for the Blind

Please let a member of the team know if you are still experiencing accessibility issues. Keep an eye out for upcoming resource guides as well, including Guide to Lost Dog Prevention and Guide Dog Etiquette for Apartment Complexes.

Transition/Retirement Support

The Graduate Council hosted a successful retirement group call on Sept. 10th. As we wait for the next call to be scheduled, the Client Experience team will continue to provide ongoing support to individuals facing this transition. We are trialing a new format where the “transitions lecture” takes place prior to arriving for class training or the start of a home training. Incoming students will receive an invitation to join a group call prior to their training start date. Additionally, Melissa Carney and Meka White are always available to provide peer support individually. Graduates are always welcome to email the team at clientexperience@guidingeyes.org or call 1-888-987-2188, option 4.

As always, feel free to reach out to a member of the Client Experience team with any questions or concerns.

Nikki Wentz
Admissions Manager, and the Client Experience Team
1-888-987-2188