The University of Central Arkansas is sitting on plans for a proposed optometry school for the time being as it works through two other projects.
The Conway university broke ground on Donaghey Hall in April for an envisioned mixed-use building with restaurants, shops and residences to be called the Donaghey Corridor. The university is also expanding the Lewis Science Center by 50,000 square feet for more classroom and laboratory space.
Both are estimated to cost $17.5 million each, though a $3 million gift from the Conway Corp. is going toward the science expansion, the university said.
The optometry school comes with a $42 million price tag for construction alone, according to a feasibility study by consulting firm Tripp Umbach. Should the plans move forward, it would be the first optometry school in Arkansas.
"The reality is that there's no real change [in plans] because what that report told us is that we need to make some significant investments in infrastructure," said Steve Runge, the university's executive vice president and provost.
"We've got the information. Now, it's just a matter of prioritizing."
The creation of an optometry school would need approval from the university's board of trustees. Runge said he didn't foresee bringing an action item to trustees in the coming weeks, or even months, however.
"I think it's going to be a little bit," he said.
UCA officials began brainstorming ways to enhance its health sciences programs -- its largest college -- in summer 2013 and soon afterward decided to give optometry a hard look.
The university hired Tripp Umbach for consultation and for a $30,000 feasibility study. Consultants presented their findings to the board in June.
The consultants' findings showed a demand for an optometry school, in part because of an aging population and an increase in overall population, the rise in chronic health conditions, advancing technology and the impending retirement of Arkansas eye care professionals.
About two-thirds of students who apply for the nearly two dozen optometry schools nationwide are accepted, according to the study. The firm estimated that about 20 Arkansans apply for the out-of-state schools annually.
The lack of an optometry school in state allows students access to Arkansas Health Education Grants, which are also available for people studying to become chiropractors, dentists, osteopaths, podiatrists and veterinarians. The amount of the grant varies for participating schools, which charge different annual tuition for in-state and out-of-state students.
From fiscal 2008 to fiscal 2013, at least 25 Arkansans each year have taken advantage of the grants for optometry, Arkansas Department of Higher Education data show. In fiscal 2013, the state doled out some $382,500 to 25 Arkansans, a fifth of whom were newly awarded, the latest available data show.
For fiscal 2015, lawmakers appropriated $410,000 for optometry aid, with an additional $140,000 available in loans. If students return to Arkansas to work, the loans can be forgiven.
The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences has an ophthalmology residency program, which is for medical school students looking to specialize in eye care, including diagnosing and treating eye diseases and performing eye surgery.
Optometrists are not medical doctors but can prescribe some medications.
Nearby optometry schools are Southern College of Optometry in Memphis and Northeastern State University's Oklahoma College of Optometry in Tahlequah, Okla.
Julianne Koch, 28, had applied to all the optometry schools nearby, including one at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, upon graduating from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville with a biology degree.
"I have had glasses since I was 2, and I got contact lenses since I was in sixth grade," she said. "I kind of set out in college saying I want to be an optometrist."
She interviewed at all three and ended up choosing the Memphis college because of the city and because she felt the school had better facilities. Had she had a choice to stay in Arkansas, the former Fort Smith resident said she wouldn't have passed up the experience she got in Memphis, however.
"Everybody needs to get out and have that outside experience," said Koch, who now works at the Little Rock Eye Clinic.
"I feel like I'm not sure if Arkansas needs an optometry school. There are larger population states that do not have optometry schools that would benefit from that more than Arkansas would."
The Tripp Umbach feasibility study for UCA included interviews with several stakeholders on matters including location, needs and challenges.
Some stakeholders felt there was a greater need for health care in rural areas of the state. Others said "it would be important for UCA not to 'step on toes'" in vision-care education in the state.
Some practicing optometrists were worried about increased competition. At the same time, others said they planned to retire soon and wanted to find someone to take over their practices.
"The most prominent concern mentioned by stakeholders was the importance of students experiencing, seeing, and working with many healthy and unhealthy eyes," the study said. "Stakeholders were concerned that the patient population in Conway would not be very diverse due to the fact that the population is very young."
Some, such as UCA board President Brad Lacy, were deterred by the cost.
Consultants recommended that UCA set first-year tuition and fees for the optometry school at $38,000.
They suggested the school should start with a class size of 30 students for four years. After that, the class size could grow to 40, and after another four years, it could grow to 60.
The study also estimated the university would break even on its expenditures after a decade.
"We have other health science programs that are very strong that we could expand for far less money than what we're talking about here," Lacy said.
"My concern would be taking any effort away from those programs and putting it into something new that is really expensive. We need to continue to be strong there. We need to grow those programs."
Even with his Conway Chamber of Commerce president's hat, Lacy said, he would review whether there are other ways to benefit the area economy that would be less costly.
"When you're in a position when you're competing for resources, and you're a state-supported institution where the majority of your budget isn't coming from the state, you have to make a business decision," he said. "[The proposal has] been kind of sitting there."
Metro on 09/28/2015