Officials at a New York college say they plan to reapply for accreditation to establish an osteopathic medical school on Arkansas State University's Jonesboro campus.
The New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine's first application to open a location in Jonesboro was denied during a September meeting, said Konrad C. Miskowicz-Retz, associate vice president of accreditation for the American Osteopathic Association.
Arkansas State University, in collaboration with the New York college, plans to open the osteopathic medical school in 2016. The school will be located in an 86,188-square-foot, renovated building the New York college has leased from the university.
The college plans to enroll 115 freshmen annually.
Barbara Ross-Lee, New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine's vice president and future dean of the Jonesboro school, said it is not uncommon for a school to be denied accreditation initially. Ross-Lee said she previously served as chairman of the American Osteopathic Association's accrediting committee.
"I am very familiar with the process," Ross-Lee said. "It is a process that is very detailed."
Ross-Lee said the committee gave college officials a list of items to clarify before resubmitting their application for accreditation. The committee asked for details about the college's student population and more information about the relationship between the New York college and ASU. She said the committee also asked about medical residency options in the state.
Another application for accreditation will be submitted to the committee in April, Ross-Lee said.
Jeff Hankins, ASU vice president for strategic communications and economic development, said other plans for the school continue to move forward. This includes Ross-Lee moving to Jonesboro to begin duties as dean of the medical school in January.
"There has been an active, ongoing effort to move this project along," Hankins said. "For the last six months, regular meetings are taking place with hospitals throughout Arkansas and the mid-South."
An announcement released by the Arkansas Osteopathic Medical Association on Dec. 15 about the college's application denial appears to have caused tension between ASU officials and the association.
The Arkansas association's announcement mentions that New York Institute of Technology did not "exercise their right to request a reconsideration" of the accrediting committee's decision. It does not mention the New York college's plans to reapply.
Hankins called the Arkansas Osteopathic Medical Association's announcement "misleading and without context." He added that the association never contacted ASU or New York Institute of Technology for clarification before sending out the release.
Frazier Edwards, Arkansas Osteopathic Medical Association executive director, said the email was meant to notify its members and interested parties.
"AOMA reported the news given to us and stated the facts accordingly and accurately," Edwards said in an email. "AOMA has made no attempt to discredit NYIT or ASU."
This is not the first time the two organizations have disagreed. Emails attained by a Freedom of Information Act request show that the Arkansas Osteopathic Medical Association has refused to support or endorse the Jonesboro medical school location in the past.
Edwards previously said the association cannot endorse the Jonesboro location because it has given its support to a Fort Smith osteopathic medical school.
The Fort Smith medical school is expected to open in 2016. Plans are to enroll 150 freshmen annually.
The Fort Smith Regional Healthcare Foundation announced its decision to move forward with the Fort Smith school last year.
"The AOMA executive director is from Fort Smith," Hankins said. "His father practiced in Fort Smith and they are both a part of a small, select community that supports the Fort Smith school and opposes Jonesboro. I think they have a clear bias in this situation."
Hankins said members of the Arkansas Osteopathic Medical Association also testified before the osteopathic accrediting committee against the New York college's application in September.
"There have been some grossly untrue statements made by the association," Hankins said. "They said we proposed putting the medical school in an abandoned building that was filled with asbestos," Hankins said.
Hankins said ASU was able to prove that the statements were untrue.
Metro on 12/23/2014