2016_SUNY_Optometry_PRR

patient care and education, the reduction also significantly helped the College financially as state support was being reduced. Since the reduction, we have increased faculty FTE by approximately 3.0 positions.  There have also been a significant number of retirements by full ‐ time faculty who first began with the College around the time of its establishment (1971). This has provided the College with an opportunity to reinvigorate its ranks and realign the expertise of its faculty with strategic priorities.  There has been an increased commitment to full ‐ time faculty. Five years ago the proportion of FT:PT was approximately 70%:30%. That ratio is now 80%:20%.  Diversity: The gender profile of the faculty has shifted with the majority of faculty now being female (55%). This shift is reflective of the overall shift in the profession of optometry. Approximately two ‐ thirds of all students nationally are women, while according to a 2012 national eye care workforce study 40% of optometrists are women. Faculty Recruitment & Retention: A consistent challenge for the College has been the ability to attract highly qualified faculty to the New York City area with competitive compensation packages. The importance of better compensation, particularly for young faculty, was increased with the decision to increase the number of faculty who are full ‐ time. As a result, over the past several years the College has made a concerted effort in improve starting faculty salaries. Over the past five years, the College has increased the starting salary for new faculty who completed a residency from $65,000 per year to $90,000 per year (effective 7/1/16). While the increase is significant, this may still be too low. Faculty Development: In addition to improved compensation, the College has increased its efforts to provide new faculty with a blend of assignments in teaching, patient care, research/scholarship and service that will expand their opportunities to develop as members of the faculty. Increased attention is also being given to the professional development of new clinical faculty. As their professional training does not provide them with sufficient preparation for an academic career path, the academic leadership team has been developing a more formal and extended orientation and mentoring process to increase clinical faculty’s likelihood of thriving as faculty in an academic health center environment. Research and Scholarship: The expansion of basic, translational and clinical research is a strategic priority for the College. In spite of a contraction in federal support for research over the past decade, the College research program has maintained its extra ‐ mural funding level. In the past 12 months alone, we have seen $3.4M in new grant commitments. Our Campus Performance Improvement Plan as approved by the University set a goal of $4.25 in research activity annually by 2020.

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