2016_SUNY_Optometry_PRR

The average debt of graduating students remains in the lowest quartile when compared to the other programs in the country. Student Satisfaction: As evidenced by the annual OD exit survey, student satisfaction is high. Satisfaction with the education has always been high, but satisfaction with the student life spaces, opportunities for engagement and career development programs have improved with increased

investment in student life. % Satisfied/ Very Satisfied

2012 2

2011

2013 2014

2015

Overall Education Student Life Space

98 36 30 50 71

64

95 54 37 61 64

91 79 63 77 70

95 86 72 82 77

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Career Planning Services Non ‐ Academic Activities Participation w/ prof. org.

25 45 68

Key Challenges:  Quality of Admissions: While we have succeeded at increasing enrollment with no discernable decrease in quality, maintaining the quality of the incoming students will require constant attention and adjustment to strategy.  Affordability: Increases in tuition need to be held in check as we move forward. This will require discipline, increases in student aid and the development of new revenue streams.  Diversity: While the College has a diverse student body as reflected in its all ‐ minority profile, there remains a dearth of under ‐ represented minorities in the field of optometry generally and on our campus as well. Under ‐ represented minority representation has improved over the past 5 years, but we are still below our goals. Standard 10: Faculty Faculty Profile: The College of Optometry has 104 faculty members representing 77.3 FTE. Eighty percent of the FTE is made up of full ‐ time faculty (N = 62) and 20% is part ‐ time (N = 42, or 15 FTE). Of the 62 full ‐ time faculty, 17 (27%) have been appointed within the last 5 years. All faculty hold terminal degrees. About 48% of full ‐ time faculty members are women, 3% are under ‐ represented minority and 20% represent “all minorities”. There have been several shifts in the faculty profile since the 2011 self ‐ study:  There was a reduction in faculty FTE beginning in the 2013 FY following a work force analysis of University Eye Center staffing needs. The review resulted in the non ‐ renewal of 24 PT and 2 FT faculty members equaling approximately 10.0 FTE. Approximately 60% of those part ‐ time faculty members elected to formally retire from the university. As one would expect these actions did have a negative impact on morale at the time. Even after these reductions, according to Association of Schools and College of Optometry (ASCO) data the College had and still has the largest faculty among optometry programs in the US. While the reduction was intended to right ‐ size staffing based upon the needs of the University Eye Center for providing

2 We believe the depressed metrics for the class of 2012 was a result of the convergence of a curriculum redesign implementation along with a large construction project that eliminated most student life space for nearly 2 years.

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