MSCHE/ACOE Self Study

As stated in the Mission Statement, a fundamental priority of the College is to “develop outstanding optometrists.” Goals and objectives supportive of this mission are listed above and included in the strategic plan, A Shared Vision. The attributes, knowledge, skills and ethical values required for the entry level practice of optometry as defined by SUNY Optometry are detailed in Expected Competencies and Attributes for Optometrists Graduating from the State College of Optometry, State University of New York (Appendix A-4). Based on the 2000 Association of Schools and College’s (ASCO) Attributes of Students Graduating from Schools and Colleges of Optometry, this document was adopted in April, 2003. It was reviewed as part of the curriculum planning process and continues to serve as a resource for curriculum development. 1.5 As part of its ongoing process of planning and self-study, the college reviews on a regular basis its program mission, goals, and objectives and revises them as necessary. Over the past decade, the College has undergone two major strategic planning processes. The first resulted in A Vision for A New Millennium (1999-2004), while the most recent produced the current five-year strategic plan, A Shared Vision . The development of this latter plan was coordinated in 2007-2008 by the Strategic Planning Task Force, a group that included broad representation from the academic, clinical, and administrative areas of the College (Appendix A-5). Subgroups of the Task Force worked with administrators, faculty and staff during the planning process and requested their review of the feasibility of the goals/objectives being proposed. A large component of the 2008 Faculty Retreat (IBM Headquarters, Armonk, NY) was dedicated to discussion of the strategic plan, resulting in input from faculty and administration. The retreat agenda and a summary of the strategic planning discussion that occurred at the retreat can be found in Appendices A-6a and A-6b, respectively. Prior to formal adoption of the plan, there was a period of comment during which a draft was circulated throughout the College, thereby encouraging broad-based community participation in the review and development of goals and objectives. With the commencement of President Heath’s tenure in 2007, there was a renewed emphasis on strategic planning as a driving force of the institution’s operations. Dr. Heath’s formal inauguration in September 2008 was timed to coincide with the adoption of the new strategic plan (developed during Dr. Heath’s first year in office) to highlight the role of planning and assessment. Under the auspices of the newly formed Institutional Research and Planning Committee (IRPC) (described in Appendix A-7), which is charged with overseeing the implementation of A Shared Vision , assessment data is collected through a number of mechanisms that are described later in this section. The routine collection of data supports the identification of critical issues. Recent examples of critical issues identified through the IRPC’s data collection activities are faculty salaries, workforce issues, (e.g. the importance of coordinating

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