MSCHE/ACOE Self Study

SUNY students graduating in 2010, 97.1% had passed all three parts of the NBEO licensing exam at about the time of graduation. Despite its usefulness as an outcome measure of program performance, the College and its Faculty are careful not to allow teaching (and curriculum) considerations to be unduly driven by the content of the NBEO or student performance on this examination. Appendix B-35 provides a flowchart that summarizes how the College utilizes NBEO scores for assessment and program improvement. NBEO data are provided to the president to present to President’s Council and the dean for discussion at Dean’s Council and track coordinator meetings. The department chairs, who are members of Dean’s Council, subsequently discuss any areas of concern with the faculty members responsible for teaching the material. These meetings are held in a collegial manner with the goal of removing any impediments and providing additional resources where indicated. Student performance is a consideration (one of several) for faculty promotion and tenure. Board results are discussed with the Curriculum Committee. Analysis of student performance allows the College to monitor longitudinally effectiveness of the curriculum as well as to assess the impact of curricular changes. To foster independent learning, for example, there has been no increase in the number of student hours in class and labs over the past 12 years despite the continuing expansion of the scope of optometric practice. New course hours must be offset by equal reductions elsewhere in the curriculum that are undertaken due to unnecessary redundancy or lack of relevance. Nonetheless, NBEO performance has remained at high levels, suggesting this strategy has not resulted in reduced student learning as measured by this examination. The newly implemented NBEO Part I has a greater emphasis on the clinical application of basic science information/concepts, which has been a major thrust of curricular reform at the college beginning with the receipt of a United States Department of Education Fund for Improvement of Post-Secondary Education (FIPSE) grant in 2003 to address this issue. Consistent with this institutional value and partially in anticipation of the restructuring of the NBEO, the newly implemented professional curriculum includes an integrative track that runs though the first three years.

The solid performance of SUNY students on licensing examinations is reflected in the 2010 Alumni Survey. More than 95% of respondents strongly agreed or agreed with the statement “I felt prepared for my licensing practical examination.”

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