MSCHE/ACOE Self Study

The College recently established the Office of International Programs and is highly engaged in China. Programs currently include international clinical education opportunities for our doctor of optometry degree students at the Wenzhou Medical College Eye Hospital, a collaborative program to develop a Center of Excellence in Low Vision and Vision Rehabilitation in Wenzhou and the establishment of a Confucius Institute on our campus in Manhattan. The College of Optometry had an FY 2009-10 all-funds operating budget of approximately $31.5 million, with 39% coming directly in the form of State support, 16% from tuition and fees, 26% from patient care, 10% from grants and contracts, and 9% from other sources. Campus-generated revenue, therefore, accounted for 61% of the total all-funds operating budget. Even with consistent cuts in State support, campus operations over the last five years have resulted in annual surpluses. New capital investments in the building for the five year period from 2008-2013 are budgeted at 36.3 million. Of this amount roughly 16 million is for new strategic initiative projects with the $20.3 million balance being targeted for critical maintenance projects throughout the building. Brief Overview of Self-Study Process The self-study process was formally initiated in November, 2008 when Dean David Troilo and Dr. Steven Schwartz (who would later be designated as director of institutional research and planning) attended the MSCHE Self-Study Institute in Philadelphia. Following the meeting, Drs. Troilo and Schwartz along with Dr. Michael Heiberger (who then served as director of institutional research and planning), met throughout November, 2008 – March 2009 as a planning group to initiate the self-study process. This group formulated the following goals for the self-study process: 1. To unite the College community and deepen its commitment to the College’s mission of excellence, innovation, and leadership in education, research, patient care, and public service. 2. To identify the College’s strengths and weaknesses as guided by its mission and the MSCHE and ACOE accreditation standards. 3. To heighten the visibility of and to strengthen the College’s culture of assessment, particularly as it relates to the ongoing strategic planning process. Because the College undergoes both regional (MSCHE) and professional [Accreditation Council on Optometric Education (ACOE)] accreditation, the Planning Group elected to go forward with a collaborative self-study model, which was used by the College for its 2003 self-study. ACOE accreditation standards can be found in its Accreditation Manual http://www.aoa.org/documents/OD_Manual_08_2009.pdf and the standards for MSCHE are in the publication Characteristics of Excellence in Education (http://www.msche.org/publications/CHX06_Aug08REVMarch09.pdf). MSCHE

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