Association Of Schools And Colleges Of Optometry Inc

Faculty development and involvement - asco holds special interest group meetings where faculty can share developments in their particular fields of interest and develop policy recommendations that support a high quality of optometric education. Asco also develops and administers faculty training programs, in both live and virtual formats, such as the future faculty program, the summer institute for faculty development, the optometric education leadership institute, the online clinical educators forum, and recent dei-focused town hall meetings/webinars.

Communications - the communications department oversees all internal and external communications for asco, including its websites, newsletter, journal, social media feeds, press releases, and correspondence with all constituents, including members of the media.

Board activities - board activities include those associated with governing the association, including holding meetings of the board of directors and the annual meeting; nominating officers; orienting and training new board members and officers; and strategic planning activities.

Advocacy - asco serves as the leading voice for optometric education. It accomplishes this through collaboration with other associations, organizations, and coalitions to optimize relationships with external stakeholders who look to asco as a resource for reliable information pertaining to optometric education, and advocating for policy changes that will promote excellence in optometric education. Through these external groups, asco also advocates for increased funding for more optometry-led research at asco member institutions through participation.

Data collection and analysis - asco collects and analyzes data about the applicants, students, residents, faculty, and institutions involved in optometric education for the benefit of its members and for informing external stakeholders about the trends in academic optometry.

Special projects - from time to time, asco will engage in initiatives that fall outside the scope of its key strategic objectives of applicant pool development, advocacy, career and leadership development, and organizational sustainability and infrastructure. These special projects advance optometric education and the field of optometry in new and innovative ways.