Board of Directors Convened in Boston for Fall Meeting

Board of Directors Convened in Boston for Fall Meeting

The Board of Directors of the Association of Optometry Schools and Colleges held its Fall Board Meeting in Boston in conjunction with the American Academy of Optometry’s (AAO) Annual Meeting.

A sampling of topics discussed and presented are:

• The AAO Board of Directors discussed future opportunities to best collaborate with ASCO on initiatives and programs benefiting optometry.
• ACOE Chair Dr. Julie DeKinder, ACOE Chair, ACOE Vice Chair Dr. Michelle Welch, and ACOE Executive Director Stephanie Puljak discussed the latest changes to the ACOE standards for professional optometric degree programs.
• Dan Ignaszewski, Executive Director of NAEVR/AEVR, updated the group on the federal government shutdown and the challenges to research funding.
• The ASCO Board considered two new potential member services related to admissions and recruitment.
• Updates on fundraising activities were provided, including discussions about potential revisions to giving circles.
• The ASCO Board also reviewed current ORMatch operations and ongoing plans for the Optometry Gives Me Life campaign, including the development of an informational video about the campaign for use in educating new faculty/administrators.
• Presentations were made by Corporate Contributors, EssilorLuxottica, Topcon Health, and CooperVision.
• Continuation of discussion and grappling with the use (or not using) artificial intelligence (AI) following results from an AI beliefs and perceptions survey.

ASCO’s auditor presented the final audit report for fiscal year 2025. Keep up-to-date with the latest ASCO news by visiting https://www.optometriceducation.org.

The Board of Directors will next meet in Arizona on March 4.