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Optometric Association Backs UCA’s Optometry School Plans

2 min read

The University of Central Arkansas said Thursday it will study whether to open a school of optometry on the campus. 

The Conway university said it has hired Tripp Umbach, a Pennsylvania health care consulting group, to conduct the feasibility study examining current and projected needs of optometrists in Arkansas and surrounding regions. The study, which will cost the university $30,000, will also look at the advantages and disadvantages of developing the school at UCA.

“Staying true to our mission of being a state leader in the health sciences, we are committed to exploring the possibility of providing a school of optometry,” UCA President Tom Courtway said in a news release. “Hopefully, this study will help us arrive at making a sound and informed decision.”

The study will also include a financial feasibility model for the school’s construction and operation in the first four years. The study is scheduled to begin in March and be completed by May 31.

“There is currently no optometry school in the state of Arkansas,” Steven Runge, UCA’s executive vice president and provost, said. “We are a state institution, and we serve the citizens of Arkansas. So, if we can correct that deficit in a sustained way that will provide educational opportunities for Arkansas students and enhance the medical services for all Arkansans, then that is what we want to do.”

Susan DeBlack, a practicing optometrist in Conway and president of the Arkansas Optometric Association, said her group was contacted by UCA in 2013 regarding the viability of opening an optometry school, and that a delegation of board members met with UCA administrators. 

The group supports UCA’s effort to study the feasibility of opening an optometry school.

“The Arkansas Optometric Association is definitely interested in contributing to the feasibility study and hopes to continue the positive conversations and relationship initiated by UCA,” DeBlack said.

Runge told Arkansas Business that UCA currently sends all its pre-optometry students out of state, many to Southern College of Optometry in Memphis.

UCA said the study is part of an ongoing review and evaluation of existing programs and degrees from each college. The school recently broke ground on a 50,000-SF addition to its science building, which Runge said could end up playing a role in housing the school if things progress that far.

“If the study comes back and tells us the answer is yes, that there is a need for an optometry school, then I have every confidence that we’ll be aggressive in making it happen,” Runge said.

The move comes as other Arkansas universities plan new services. The University of Arkansas plans to roll out an online university, called the eVersity, this fall. Arkansas State University in Jonesboro is planning an osteopathic medical school.

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