MSCHE/ACOE Self Study

supervise admissions advising, applications processing, and records; and track and analyze the College’s recruitment efforts on a regular basis. The process that is employed to admit a qualified student body is detailed in the Admissions Policy and Procedure document (Appendix E-2) last revised on April 14, 2010. The function of the Admissions Committee, description of the interview process and Affiliation Program (3/4 program) and admission of advanced standing applicants are addressed in this document. Recruitment activity currently consists primarily of visits to undergraduate colleges; targeted mailings to undergraduate health professions advisors throughout the nation and to optometrists and high school counselors in the Tri- state area; the College Web site, which has a link to an online common application utilized by all schools/college of optometry; participation in National Association of Advisors to the Health Professions; and bi-annual open houses for students and advisors from local colleges. A recruitment brochure can be found in Appendix E-9a. The VPSA has had the primary responsibility for visiting undergraduate campuses. These recruiting visits usually consist of meetings with the pre- professional advisor, pre-optometry club (if there is one) and interested students on a group or individual basis. In addition to visiting colleges in the New York City metropolitan area and Upstate New York, there has been an additional recruitment concentration on colleges in California and in selected provinces in Canada. The College has historically made a special effort to attract students from under- represented minority groups (Goal 1.10). Visits are made to historically black colleges in an effort to increase the pool of minority applicants. While the Asian- American student population has increased substantially to where it is now about 40% of the student body, the numbers of Black and Hispanic students have not increased significantly over the years. In an effort to address this issue, the College continues to receive funding from the New York State Education Department to support a College Science and Technology Entry Program (CSTEP) that employs a 0.5 FTE minority student recruitment coordinator. The primary objective of the CSTEP project is to increase the number of historically underrepresented minority students in the profession of optometry. The CSTEP coordinator works with the VPSA to determine marketing, communication, and recruitment strategies, and to recruit minority candidates at colleges and universities that have highly diverse student bodies. During the fall 2010, an additional position, director of admission and marketing, was approved by the president and filled on November 15, 2010. One of the primary responsibilities of the director (page 69) is to identify and recruit underrepresented minority students. To that end, the director will work closely with the College’s CSTEP Coordinator. The VPSA and/or the director of admission and marketing will take an active role in the National Association of Medical Minority Educators

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