MSCHE/ACOE Self Study

start-up funds (first year of a two-year start-up package for a new faculty member), $360,000 for graduate student stipends, $148,260 for graduate student tuition waivers, $3,300 for graduate student fees, $58,000 to support work-study students who are either in the OD/MS program or providing support to research laboratories and $28,100 to support additional research functions. In addition to these expenditures, $244,843 in indirect cost recovery funds were used in 2009- 2010 to support the Biological Research Facility and $125,540 supported other research activities. Laboratory and common space assigned for research activities is 14,457 SF. In addition to these expenditures, research activities of the College are supported internally by the Schnurmacher Institute for Vision Research (SIVR), which was founded in 1983 in response to the growing need for scientific knowledge about the visual system and methods of improving visual function. Funding for the SIVR comes from the Optometric Center of New York, the College’s affiliated foundation. The associate dean for graduate studies and research is the current director of the SIVR. With an annual budget of about $80,000, the SIVR supports collaborative clinical research, small clinical research projects, innovative translational and clinical research and the SIVR Colloquia Series The College has put in place significant physical and other infrastructure to support the research efforts of its faculty members, post-docs and students. These are described in Appendix C-17. The College promotes its researchers and their activities and increases their visibility through a number of mechanisms including the following (Strategic Plan Goals 1.4 and 1.9):  The College is an active participant in and hosts meetings of VisioNYC, a collaborative effort of the vision research programs at Columbia, Rockefeller, Cornell, and NYU and SUNY Optometry to promote the interaction of vision scientist in New York City. Examples of programs can be found at http://www.sunyopt.edu/research/res_news.shtml.  Publications, grant awards, conference presentations, and invited talks are publicized in the College’s quarterly electronic newsletter, FY Eye (http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs059/1101825906496/archive/110191 5784248.html).  An annual Scholar’s Dinner is held each summer to which all faculty members, post-docs and students who have published in the previous year are invited and at which awards are given.  Administration reliably solicits faculty nominations in response to calls for recognition by the State University of New York (e.g., Chancellors Award for Research)  Department budgets include funding for travel and support for scholarly meetings.

56