ACOE_Self-Study

Standard IV – Governance, Regional Accreditation, Administration, and Finances

4.1 The doctor of optometry program is offered by an autonomous unit organized as a school or college of optometry (within a university or as an independent entity.) This includes autonomy to manage the professional program within published policies and procedures, as well as applicable state and federal regulations. The SUNY College of Optometry is an autonomous campus of the State University of New York, which is comprised of 64 individual campuses that are decentralized in location and administration and diversified in curricula. The overall direction of the State University is the responsibility of a 16-member Board of Trustees appointed by the Governor (and confirmed by the State Senate) who also designates the Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson. The policies of the Board of Trustees are given in Appendix IV-1 and are also posted at http://www.suny.edu/Board_of_Trustees/PDF/Policies.pdf. The Board of Trustees is expected to comply with all legal standards for such governing bodies including any conflict of interest requirements. A System Administration staff, headed by the Chancellor of the University, functions under the Board of Trustees and is located in the University’s system offices in Albany. Each unit of the State University is headed by its own chief executive officer who reports to the Chancellor (Kristina Johnson, PhD). The College’s president , who assumed the position in 2007, is Dr. David A. Heath. The College senior administration, as delineated in the organizational chart (see Appendix IV-2a or http://www.sunyopt.edu/about/governance), includes the five following functional areas: Academic Affairs, Student Affairs, Clinical Administration, Institutional Advancement and Administration and Finance. Organizational charts for each of these areas can be found in Appendix IV-2b . Each of these is headed by a vice president who is responsible for the formulation and implementation of policies appropriate to the area. Position descriptions for senior administrators are given Appendix IV-3a . The two department chairs (Biological and Vision Sciences and Clinical Education) and associate dean for research and graduate studies report directly to the vice president for academic affairs). The senior administration constitutes President’s Council, which is the president’s senior advisory group, and engages in wide-ranging discussion of issues important to the short- and long-term future of the College. Areas of importance may include, but are not limited to, institutional planning, budgets and resources, state, federal and external relations, operational policies and procedures for the College, assessment and quality controls and other issues that may arise. President’s Council generally meets twice a month and College Roundtable, which includes members of President’s Council and other managers, meets once a month. Within the functional structure of the College, there are several advisory councils that support and advise the senior administration. A description of these councils can be found in Appendix IV-3b .

47