2011 ICO Commencement Video | Photos

[Transcript of Full Commencement Address:]

Thank you for this high honor.

Trustees, President Augsburger, colleagues, honored guests and above all doctoral degree candidates.

I know you are eager to receive your degrees and celebrate your hard earned achievements, however, as tradition dictates, there will be no degrees until the old guy speaks.

Congratulations on earning your Doctor of Optometry degree.

Today, I join with your families and friends in sharing the pride of your outstanding accomplishments.

Your future is bright with unparalleled practice opportunities.

You have been fortunate for the past four years to be touched by the uncommon power of the ICO experience.

This experience ensures your success in a changing health care environment.

An outstanding faculty has prepared you well for opportunities in the areas of public health, patient care and clinical education.

In the area of public health there is an increasing awareness of unmet visual health needs in medically underserved areas.

And there are opportunities for you to meet the needs of special populations: for those who live in poverty, the homeless, the frail elderly, the homebound, the developmentally disabled and the visually impaired.

The Illinois Eye Institute’s community outreach to the underserved population of Chicago serves as an outstanding example of collaborative medical care.

I hope you will use your ICO training to help others in need.

In patient care, opportunities are available to you in interdisciplinary care as optometrists manage more complex clinical conditions and diseases, requiring close coordination with other professionals.

Also, telemedicine technologies and electronic health records provide the means for more effective patient management.

ICO’s commitment to excellence in patient care is affirmed by grant awards from prestigious organizations and corporations.

The College’s network of over 150 clinical training sites in 47 states and abroad is one of the most extensive in optometry.

In clinical education, there are opportunities for you, as preceptors, by sharing your experiences in: patient-centered education and cooperative clinical training between optometry and ophthalmology.

ICO’s support from external sources for clinical training is the highest of all optometric institutions and is an acknowledgement of the College’s excellence in clinical education.

My education, like yours, prepared me not only to be a competent clinician but also to contribute to the profession’s future.

Your professional status will also provide entree to numerous social, civic and political activities.

In the past, it has been the foresight and persistence of many dedicated individuals to move the profession forward.

You are now called upon to make such a contribution.

Given the aging population, uncertain optometric manpower needs and the impact of national health care reform, there is a need for broad based strategic planning including professional, academic and corporate participation.

I encourage your active involvement at the local, state or national level in planning for your profession’s future.

Current Board Certification and Continued Professional Competency initiatives require your attention and understanding of their place in your profession.

There are unprecedented opportunities for optometry to seek inclusion in three major Federal programs while the federal budget is being re-structured.

These programs could potentially benefit the current generation of optometrists as well as future optometric students, residents and graduates.

The first initiative which is already in progress is the expansion of optometry’s impact in the community health care system.

Community health centers provide accessible and cost effective primary medical care to 20 million Americans in rural areas and poor urban neighborhoods.

However, only 20% of federally qualified health centers offer eye care services, despite the growing need in rural and inner-city America.

Federal funding is required to establish optometric services in all of the Nation’s community health centers.

It is estimated that 5,000 optometrists would be needed in the Nation’s underserved areas over the next decade providing not only new practice opportunities, but also additional student and resident clinical training placements.

The second program is the National Health Service Corps.

Efforts must be made to attract more optometrists to medically underserved areas through financial incentives, such as tax free student loan repayment, by including optometrists in the National Health Service Corps.

Classification of optometry by the Federal government as a Primary Care Profession is a necessary next step to qualify for this program.

Third and long overdue, is optometry’s inclusion in the Graduate Medical Education program, GME, the clinical educational component of Medicare.

Optometrists have been included in the Medicare program since 1987 and currently provide $970 million in services annually to Medicare beneficiaries.

Now it is time to join medicine, dentistry and podiatry as a recipient of GME funding for clinical training.

Optometry’s inclusion in the $9.5 billion program would address: the increasing costs of clinical training and the need for workforce development as the scope of optometric practice continues to expand and growth in the demand for eye care services by the Medicare population.

Although the work ahead will be challenging, inclusion in these three major Federal programs would provide visual health care to tens of thousands of underserved individuals, strengthen the profession of optometry’s position at the national level and forever change the financial landscape of optometric education.

I am confident that the profession’s future leaders are in this Chapel today.

And as those before you, you must move forward with a balance of discretion and audacity.

Be willing to take risks with innovative approaches.

In whatever you do, follow the example of your Alma Mater and strive for pinnacles of excellence.

For in the final analysis, it is neither about financial rewards nor power, but pride in your professional and personal achievements.

Character and contribution will define your success.

Thank you and congratulations.

[May 21, 2011]

Dr. Mullen has served the profession with great distinction since earning his doctor of optometry degree in 1969 from the New England College of Optometry. He has tirelessly advocated for the interdisciplinary approach to clinical education and patient care, and he successfully led the initiative to certify the first American optometrists in the use of pharmaceutical agents.

Under his leadership at ICO, Dr. Mullen increased the College’s externship sites from 9 to 144, significantly improved students’ performance on national board examinations, affiliated ICO with the University of Chicago, and developed and implemented a performance-based strategic plan that positioned ICO for future success.

Dr. Mullen has received more than 30 prestigious honors and awards, including being inducted into the National Optometry Hall of Fame for lifetime contributions to the profession. Dr. Mullen serves on the boards of NECO and the Blind and Vision Rehabilitation Services of Pittsburgh and has previously served as chair of the board of directors at the New England Eye Institute.

About the Illinois College of Optometry

The Illinois College of Optometry, founded in 1872 by Dr. Henry Olin, provides excellence in optometric clinical education and is among the world’s leading urban optometric institutions. Located in Chicago, ICO has a distinguished legacy of providing aspiring optometrists the education and experience needed to meet the challenges of a changing health care environment and become leaders who will champion their patients and the profession alike. For more information please visit the Illinois College of Optometry website.

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Additional Resources:

• NEEI Compliance Protocol to Meet Medicare Guidelines for Optometric Training Programs
• Graduate Medical Education (GME), Medicare and Optometry
• Optometry Students, Medicare Regulations and Third Party Plans
• Development of a New Clinical Training Model
• Ideas Submitted to President Obama’s Citizens’ Briefing Book

Additional Resources: Commitment to Excellence; The Road to Excellence; The Inauguration of Dr. Charles F. Mullen

Full Transcript
Dr. Henry, faculty, students, staff, family members, and honored guests.

Today is a bittersweet occasion for me as I bid farewell to this fine institution and to many valued colleagues, students, and friends.

Let me begin by saying how proud I am of your many achievements during the six years of my tenure. Through the combined outstanding effort of our faculty, administration, students and staff we have worked together to strengthen the College for today and for decades to come.

Together, we have created a new culture at ICO. It is a culture that encourages innovation and creativity; it recognizes personal initiative as well as individual and collective accountability. It calls for improved outcomes and heightened productivity. It is a culture that demands we be models of ethical behavior and integrity. A culture committed to growth and improvement.

Avenues of dialogue among all ICO constituencies have been opened. Faculty, staff, and students are positively engaged in strengthening the institution. As the Accreditation Council on Optometric Education stated during their visit to our campus earlier this year “a commitment to excellence was evident at all levels of the institution.” It was clear to the Accreditation Council, as it has been clear to me, that you are always reaching for the next level – not satisfied with second best. You have much to be proud of.

I would like to highlight the extraordinary achievements of our years together as well as share the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.

First to Dean Scharre and the entire ICO faculty, I extend my sincerest appreciation for your tireless commitment to excellence in securing the College’s legacy for the future. Your contributions to our academic culture have been enormous and far-reaching.

In the past six years, the College has undergone three major accreditation reviews while five residency programs were evaluated. In all cases, the strength of ICO’s academic and clinical programs was reaffirmed by external reviewers. For example:

• Performance of ICO Students on the National Board of Optometry examinations is the best ever.
• The student externship program was expanded from just 9 sites to 144, providing over 160,000 additional clinical teaching encounters.
• Individual student’s clinical encounters increased from 500 to over 1260 by graduation.
• The IEI census increased by 47% providing 70,000 clinical encounters each year.
• Faculty scholarly presentations, publications, and grant submissions are at an all-time high.
• ICO’s affiliation with the University of Chicago’s Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science was developed. This relationship has continued to succeed both academically and clinically.
• Faculty membership in the American Academy of Optometry increased from 48% to 92%.
• Student retention rate reached an all-time high of nearly 99%.
• Students on the Deans list increased to over 50% for some classes.
• We initiated several research projects at the College’s new small animal research lab.
• Faculty governance was strengthened to include a voting member on the Board of Trustees.

Thanks to our administrators and staff, ICO continues to function from a strong financial and operational position. You, too, should be proud of your many achievements, as follows:

• A strategic and tactical planning process was implemented which is open, consultative and collaborative, employing a performance-based monitoring of progress. The plan is actively employed in the management of the institution.
• Student tuition was frozen for four years, helping to control student debt, and scholarships were increased. The work study program was doubled in size.
• ICO has been approved as a participating lender in the Federal Family Education Loan Program, which will result in projected annual revenue of $735,000 for FY2003.
• We successfully restructured the College’s overall debt by issuing $45 million in variable rate tax exempt bonds.
• ICO investment assets increased by $6.7 million, despite a serious downturn in the stock market.
• IEI patient services revenue increased 59%.
• We completed the IEI construction project in addition to $8.5 million in physical plant, equipment and information systems technology improvements.

To the student body, I wish to commend you on your many contributions to the College and profession.

• ICO students’ participation in scholarship and leadership activities at AOSA, Academy and AOA meetings has been most impressive.
• Students continue to play an exemplary role in supporting neighborhood community service programs, the VOSH program, and Special and Junior Olympics.
• Students initiated a campaign to raise scholarship funds through their annual golf outing.
• The student representatives to the Board of Trustees, until recently Mr. Steinmetz and now Ms. McCann, have participated in Board activities with poise, dedication and professionalism.
• Student participation in the College’s Annual Play and International Night reflects a spirit of enthusiasm and pride.

Governance has grown ever stronger through the Board of Trustees efforts to increase its size and diversity.

• We continue to build a productive, solid relationship with our neighbors through our Community Advisory Board.
• We have strengthened our outreach and built better relationships with other health care professionals and community organizations.

The Illinois Eye Institute with its outstanding administrators, faculty, and staff has made outstanding progress in the past six years. Patient satisfaction at IEI is at an all-time high as measured by external surveys.

In particular, I want to acknowledge the very successful Vision of Hope program, which provides eye care to the uninsured and underinsured citizens of Illinois. Initially launched with a $250,000 grant from the Illinois State Legislature, we added private foundation grants and additional state support. Already we count this program among our most successful endeavors. Of the 1,700 patients examined, more than 70% exhibit some type of untreated serious eye condition.

We also completed a comprehensive review and reorganization of our Institutional Advancement office. We reenergized the College’s development, alumni affairs and public relations programs. Results have been most encouraging.

These are the accomplishments we can feel proud of, but the picture would be incomplete without noting the challenges which lie ahead.

• Meet the challenge of continued program growth as projected in our “Commitment to Excellence” strategic plan, while facing uncertain stock market conditions, a slowing economy and a decrease in the student applicant pool.
• Continue our commitment to recruitment and admittance of the most qualified students during the current applicant decline.
• Maintain tuition at a competitive level, while ensuring the availability of scholarship funds.
• Continue to recruit and retain outstanding faculty and staff.
• Keep pace with the changing regulatory standards imposed on health care and research institutions.
• And implement an institutional compliance plan and comprehensive risk assessment program.

But with these challenges come numerous opportunities. These include the potential to:

• Increase Illinois State appropriation to ICO.
• Increase the number of state contracts to support out of state student tuition.
• Qualify for Federal Graduate Medical Education (GME) funding for student clinical training.
• Build investment assets “endowments” by increasing gifts from alumni, friends, and foundations.
• Implement a Faculty Group Practice Plan in order to reduce the cost of clinical education, increase faculty income and enhance faculty retention.
• Strengthen the College’s research infrastructure.
• Secure additional grant funding for the clinical care of indigent patients.
• Establish an ambulatory ophthalmic surgi-center in partnership with the University of Chicago and qualify for Part A Medicare reimbursement.
• Achieve accreditation from the Joint Commission for the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) for the Illinois Eye Institute and proposed ambulatory surgi-center.

Now I would like to turn to many well deserved “thank yous”

Let me first thank the members of our outstanding faculty and ICO’s dedicated Academic Administration.

Also, I personally appreciate the support and always constructive approach of the Faculty Executive Committee.

I would like to recognize and further encourage the excellent cooperation and support of the student leadership. The Student Association goes to great effort to help us maintain a positive professional and social culture at ICO. The student body deserves much credit for the dedication and pride they bring to the pursuit of academic and clinical excellence.

I would also like to thank the many Operating Units of the College for the support they provide the faculty, students and administration.

The Office of Student Affairs has again been successful in recruiting academically gifted women and men to ICO. The office has also done an outstanding job to maintain a positive and supportive culture for our student body and has set a high standard for student services.

The Student Financial Services Office has again efficiently assisted our students in obtaining funds necessary to make their optometric education possible, simplifying loan processing.

Institutional Advancement has enhanced and supported fund raising efforts through the offices of Development, Alumni Affairs, and Public Relations.

Through the efforts of Human Resources staff, the College and the Eye Institute attract talented faculty and dedicated staff. They help ensure our environment is fair, friendly, and productive.

The Business Office continues to achieve a high level of operational efficiency and assists other College units in a professional and responsive manner.

Information Systems Staff completed the 22 major technology projects including the most sophisticated library system. A Faculty Technology center was developed to facilitate the use of advanced technology in teaching.

The Facilities Staff always does an outstanding job in maintaining one of the finest campuses in health professions education.

We would not achieve our goals without the uncompromising services and dedication from the Library, Registrar, Instructional Media, Biomedical Services, Institutional Health, Academic Support, Fitness Center, Food Services, Security, Mailroom and Bookstore. Thank you all for a job well done.

A special thanks to the alumni for serving as role models for our students through your success, and dedication to patients and the profession. Your role in identifying talented students for admission to ICO is greatly appreciated.

I would also like to thank our Alumni Council for their outstanding leadership. The Alumni Council plays a significant role as the College’s representatives to the Alumni. The Illinois Optometric Association has provided invaluable support the past six years.

A note of appreciation to my office staff for their loyalty and dedication.

Thank you to all of ICO’s partners – attorneys, accountants, bankers, and vendors for your excellent service and support to the College.

And finally, I would like to recognize Chairman Lawless and the Board of Trustees for providing the leadership the College requires to achieve our Commitment to Excellence goals. Thank you for your time, dedication and generous financial support.

ICO has a history and tradition that will guide the College through the future fulfillment of its mission – the pursuit of excellence in health care education, patient care, scholarly activity; and the development of leaders for the profession and society.

Yes, we’ve had an extraordinary six years together. ICO has an extraordinary future ahead as it continues in the pursuit of excellence. It is through your leadership that we will be able to continue ICO’s dramatic progress and to face the challenges that are ahead with determination and optimism.

As I stated in my inaugural speech in 1997. I was both humbled and honored to be appointed President of ICO. I only hope you are as proud as I am of the strength and integrity of this institution as well as its opportunities and hopes for the future.

Also, I stated that the measure I would use to judge our years together would not be what we have gained but what we have given to others. But I never envisioned the gifts that I personally would receive through these six years.

• The loyalty and support provided to me by my colleagues and of all those with whom I have worked.
• The trust that I put in our mutual vision is now not a dream but a reality, based on measured success and the evaluation of others.

These gifts are greatest of all. I strongly believe the last six years has changed ICO for the better, and changed each of us for the better. These gifts are invaluable treasures that we take on our respective journeys.

I had the opportunity to recently brief President-designate Augsburger on the State of the Institution. I am confident that he will not only sustain the excellence we have built, but will lead the institution to even greater levels of achievement.

Finally I would like to conclude my farewell address with an expression I have not used in over 40 years. As a young naval officer, on the bridge of the Radar Picket Ship Searcher underway in the North Atlantic, it was customary to brief the oncoming watch officer with the ship’s course, speed, position as well as other important data. And once he nodded his understanding of the status of the ship, I would render a snappy salute and say – Sir, I stand relieved!

Thank you.

Charles F. Mullen, O.D.
Presidential Farewell Address
Illinois College of Optometry
September 13, 2002

Today’s optometry students take for granted their ability to train at settings including neighborhood health centers and Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) facilities as part of their clinical education. Yet, these doors were not always open to them. While there were many people who contributed to this welcome change, the man with the vision to know where the profession was going and how to get there is Dr. Charles F. Mullen ’69.

Dr. Mullen, who recently retired as President of the Illinois College of Optometry, spent his entire career designing and reshaping the delivery of clinical education for optometry students and residents. He has advanced clinical education with his keen foresight and forceful leadership. In doing so, he has opened up eye care services to many previously underserved patients.

From 1970-1976 Dr. Mullen served President William Baldwin at The New England College of Optometry (then Massachusetts College of Optometry) as Special Assistant for Clinical Development. Baldwin appointed him shortly after his 1969 graduation.

Between 1976-1990, Dr. Mullen served as executive director of the Eye Institute at the Pennsylvania College of Optometry (PCO). He then directed the Optometry Service at the Department of Veterans Affairs in Washington, DC, from 1990-1996 and in 1996 was selected president of the Illinois College of Optometry (ICO).

Beginning with NECO, Dr. Mullen was able to plant the seeds of moving optometry into the forefront of primary eye care by developing a system that optimally served patients. Perhaps best known for clearly seeing the potential of expanding the scope of the practice of optometry, Dr. Mullen recognized in the early 1970’s that optometrists would be treating eye disease and the necessity for students in the clinical system of NECO to develop new skills. Think of how difficult this was without a single diagnostic or therapeutic drug law in place…

Working to implement new clinical protocols, Dr. Mullen creatively developed teaching affiliations with Boston’s system of neighborhood health centers and other multidisciplinary settings. He did this by partnering with a progressive team of optometrists and ophthalmologists in caring for patients in special and underserved populations as a way of enhancing the education of future doctors of all disciplines.

In the words of Dr. Mullen, “We had a need and wanted to enrich the students’ clinical experience and give them more exposure… we also saw an opportunity to provide eye care services to those who were underserved in the Boston area.”

Breaking Down the Barriers
To reflect back on the 1970s, when Dr. Mullen began his career in optometry, is to see a radically different time than today. Co-management was not the norm, as it is today. Diagnostics and therapeutic pharmaceuticals were the sole province of the medical profession.

Early in his career, Dr. Mullen understood that ophthalmology and optometry were complementary. However, integrating a different model in a resistant health care field would require both conviction and persistence. He and other clinicians saw an opportunity to introduce a primary care system into clinical education and, in 1970, circumstances allowed him to begin his mission.

In 1972, the College was commissioned by the State of Rhode Island to develop the clinical curriculum and certify its Optometric State Board in the use of diagnostic and pharmaceutical agents. Dr. Mullen directed the implementation of the clinical component for the first diagnostic pharmaceutical course and along with Dr. Matt Garston ’66 certified the first diagnostic pharmaceutical certified optometrist in the United States.

Following that milestone, Dr. Mullen collaborated with a team of neighborhood health care and public policy leaders: Tres Blake of the South End Community Heath Center; Bob Morgan of Dimock Community Health Center and the Harvard School of Public Health; Mark Richman, M.D. of Boston University and the South End Community Health Centers; and David Miller, M.D., of Beth Israel and Harvard Medical School. All were committed to enhancing ophthalmologic clinical education and services.

The ophthalmic community and private optometric practitioners were skeptical, but the group stayed the course. Over time, local neighborhood health centers formed partnerships with the College and integrated optometric services and students into their clinical programs. Dr. Mullen is still viewed as the architect of the local model used in Boston and duplicated elsewhere to this day.

Dr. Barry J. Barresi ’77, Vice President for Clinical Care and Services at New England Eye Institute (NEEI), testifies to that fact. “Even today as we meet with Boston’s health care leaders to further expand the NEEI system of community-based clinical sites, many of them vividly recall the innovative leadership of Dr. Mullen some 30 years ago. With his colleagues, he built a strong foundation of community health partnerships. Today these collaborations are fueling continued innovation and growth in the College’s mission of excellence in patient care, clinical education and research.”

Dr. Gerald Selvin ’73, Professor of Optometry at NECO and National Education Chair for the Optometry Service Field Advisory Group of VA Central Office considers Dr. Mullen to have had the largest impact on his development than anyone else in optometry. While still a student, he remembers two particular proclamations made in 1972 which not only greatly influence his practice life but all of optometry.

“Optometrists will be treating eye disease routinely, so we are going to start to teach you how now.”;

“There are no welfare patients, no poor patients, no rich patients… there are only patients, and each individual will be treated with dignity and respect.”

These principles are what Dr. Charles Mullen has always placed above all else…take care of patients compassionately and with expertise. Never having lost sight of these principles is what made Dr. Mullen the visionary he is. And those optometrists who have had the good fortune to be directly influenced by him can imprint these values on a new generation of doctors, continuing his legacy.

The Eye Institute
Then it was time for another professional challenge. In 1976, Dr. Norman Wallis, former president of Pennsylvania College of Optometry (PCO) and now executive director of the National Board of Examiners, approached him about developing an integrated clinical system at PCO for the soon to be built Eye Institute. Dr. Wallis felt that Dr. Mullen was the only person capable of handling this daunting assignment. Dr. Wallis explained to Perspective that PCO’s objective was to establish an enterprise that resembled an “eye hospital.” It would combine the three O’s (opticianry, optometry, and ophthalmology) under one roof. This innovation in eye care education would completely change the character of the clinic, and – ultimately – eye care delivery.

With his characteristic methodical approach, Dr. Mullen set out to implement the model, which would greatly expand the scope of educational and training resources available at PCO. Dr. Wallis recalls why it was so successful.

“Charlie organized the clinic like a military campaign. Every aspect was covered to the greatest detail. It was like Operation Desert Storm.”

In the 1980’s, Dr. Mullen saw changes taking place in the profession and made great efforts to merge the interests between optometry and the medical community. He wrote that, “the impetus comes from outside parties – particularly third-party payers, health care policymakers and legislators – who will attempt to define the roles each profession will play in the future of eye care provision if the two professions do not actively define the roles themselves.”

He knew that the mutual interests could form a bond. Therefore, he initiated several affiliations with medical facilities in the Philadelphia region. The hallmark would be PCO’s affiliation with Hahnemann University, a Philadelphia-based medical college. The two combined their resources and worked to develop “unique approaches to ophthalmic education, eye care provision, and optometric research.”

Meeting More Professional Challenges
In 1990 Dr. Mullen left PCO to head the Optometry Service of the Department of Veterans Affairs in Washington, DC. With this post, he became the highest-ranking civilian optometrist employed by the government. A former Navy officer himself, he was familiar with the need for change in the VA system. True to from, he began a process of systematic restructuring. Under his stewardship, he implemented protocols for clinical privileging and standardized the educational component system-wide at the VHA. These guidelines are the principle force driving policy decisions today. He was also responsible for the sizable growth of the student and residency programs.

Many colleagues, including those at the Department of Veterans Affairs, feel that he was a perfect representative for the optometric profession in Washington. Described as a “visionary,” a “poised ambassador,” and an “executive’s executive,” he based his entire career on teamwork. When asked about his leadership style, Charles Mullen credits Dr. Wallis. “Norman taught me the ability to empower the people who work for you – to trust them and how to delegate authority.”

Another term that is often used in reference to Charles Mullen is “turn-around specialist.” In 1996, he accepted the challenge of the presidency at the Illinois College of Optometry. The institution had gone through a difficult time and needed to be restored to its previous stature.

Dr. Mullen confronted the issues head on, turning ICO into a thriving and stable institution. He implemented a strategic management plan, “Commitment to Excellence,” which restructured the college to address the challenges of the future.

Commenting on what he views as the most significant transformation at ICO during his tenure, Dr. Mullen is quick to state that “it has been the institutional culture. We initiated the process by focusing on the CORE four-year program and utilized tools to evaluate outcome assessment and national board performance. Change has permeated the institution.”

The list of accomplishments at ICO is noteworthy. ICO has increased its endowment, raised its clinical revenues, significantly improved student national board performance, frozen tuition, improved its student retention rate and increased student and faculty involvement in institutional governance. The outcome of Dr. Mullen’s taking charge is remarkable.

You can also see his trademark in the clinical programs at ICO. When he arrived there were only nine clinical affiliates. That number has grown to 137 sites throughout the United States and abroad. This has significantly impacted students’ access to patient encounters. In 1997, ICO formed an affiliation with the University of Chicago that has strengthened both institutions. ICO is now in the process of expanding that relationship further and plans are underway to move the University of Chicago’s ophthalmic surgical practice to the ICO campus.

With his retirement recently from ICO, you might expect Dr. Mullen to contemplate his golf handicap or other hobbies. But instead, he is thinking of returning to federal service. You can expect that wherever he heads next, his vision and leadership will do nothing short of transforming that entity.

The New England College of Optometry
Perspective Magazine. Spring 2002.

On June 10th ICO President Dr. Charles Mullen represented the Deans and Presidents of America’s Schools and Colleges of Optometry and spoke at the installation of Alan Laird Lewis, O.D., Ph.D., as incoming President of the New England College of Optometry (NECO). Inasmuch as the challenges and opportunities envisioned apply to ICO as well as NECO, Alumni Matters is pleased to reproduce Dr. Mullen’s brief remarks in their entirety.

Dr. Lewis, Chairman Spector, members of the Board of Trustees, distinguished members of the New England College of Optometry faculty and administration, colleagues and honored guests.

It is indeed a pleasure and a privilege for me to be here today as the representative of the Deans and Presidents of America’s Schools and Colleges of Optometry, as a friend and colleague of Dr. Lewis, and to return to my Alma Mater.

Over the years Dr. Lewis and I, to some extent, followed similar paths. We are both graduates of the New England College of Optometry. We both served as officers in the United States Navy and we both pursued careers in optometric education.

As Director of the Optometry Service at the Veterans Health Administration, I had the opportunity to work with Dr. Lewis while he was Dean at the Michigan College of Optometry. We worked closely during those years to expand clinical training for optometric students at various Department of Veterans Affairs medical facilities.

I have the greatest respect for Dr. Lewis’ abilities as an administrator and as an educator. He possesses those rare and most desirable talents of a keen intellect with the ability to comprehend and act on the larger issues, challenges and opportunities along with an appreciation for the importance of detail.

The challenges and opportunities all of us in optometric education will face during Dr. Lewis’ tenure as president are numerous.

We will see a lessening of our dependency upon campus-based facilities for the clinical education of students. Perhaps initially driven by economic considerations, the greater diversity of educational experiences provided by externships will increase pressure for more community-based training sites. The New England College of Optometry maintains a leadership role in the development and management of community-based sites and is already meeting this challenge.

College based clinics will play a significant role, however, as faculty practice becomes more important as a means for enhancing faculty income and improving our ability to recruit and retain highly qualified clinicians.

We will see a movement away from traditional classroom teaching toward more technology assisted self-learning through the rapid advances being made in communications and computer-based technology.

There will be an increased recognition that the function of a school or college of optometry is to prepare graduates for a lifetime of learning. We will redefine the entry-level attributes of our students and modify our curriculum to emphasize a lifelong commitment to learning. Students will learn to commit to a philosophy that emphasizes the acquisition of knowledge over mere information absorption and memorization.

We will recognize our responsibility to expose our students to a wide variety of practice opportunities.

We must also be prepared to offer meaningful advanced competency education to practicing optometrists as a core value of institutions of optometric education.

And, we must be ready to assist our faculty in adapting their teaching strategies to reflect this new paradigm.

And, finally we must find ways to reduce the level of indebtedness students face upon graduation, perhaps by controlling tuition increases and by providing increased scholarship support.

I also believe that the future direction of optometry will be fueled more than ever by the economics of the managed care marketplace. Quality assurance programs, appropriate advanced competency certifications and accreditation of clinical facilities will become increasingly important.

Consultation among professionals and the national academic eye centers of excellence will take advantage of advanced technology to become a standard practice. Precise retinal images and other data will be instantly transmitted from one point to another in real time.

We will see the development and utilization of a national faculty in several disciplines linked through developing technology. Schools and colleges of optometry will be able to access a faculty of our finest educators.

In such an environment, made possible by advances in technology and made necessary by economic imperative to be as efficient as possible, there will be unprecedented pressures to work together in a cooperative spirit. In this environment Dr. Alan Lewis, who has earned the respect and admiration of his peers will be indispensable as a leader.

I am confident that his contributions to the College, optometric education and the profession will be numerous and his leadership exceptional.

I pledge to Dr. Lewis my personal support and that of his fellow Deans and Presidents of Schools and Colleges of Optometry, and I wish him continued success as the President of The New England College of Optometry.

Thank you.

Alumni Matters – Summer 2000
Illinois College of Optometry
Charles F. Mullen O.D.

Why did you accept the position of President of the Illinois College of Optometry?

Given ICO’s historical position of prominence within optometric education, I was concerned when I learned of the difficulties the college was experiencing in 1996. I believed these difficulties had the potential to harm not only ICO, but possibly even the profession of optometry itself. When approached by the Search Committee, I felt a responsibility to my profession of thirty years to interview for the position. Since I had extensive experience in health care management and clinical education, I felt confident that with the support of the Board of Trustees, faculty, and staff, we could redirect the resources and energies of the college toward programmatic improvements and that in a fairly short time we could create an institutional culture in which faculty, staff, and students were positively engaged in strengthening the institution.

The interview process for the presidency began in the summer of 1996. I met with the faculty. The faculty provided anonymous evaluations of my potential as ICO’s new president. The returns were favorable. By November, I was commuting between Washington, D.C. and Chicago. In December 1996, I assumed the presidency of the Illinois College of Optometry.

What were your expectations and initial objectives when you arrived at ICO?

Although I found there was an understandable sense of uncertainty regarding the immediate future of the College, morale was surprisingly good. It was my perspective that faculty and staff were not only willing, but eager, to “right the ship” and to positively engage in strengthening and improving the institution. I felt confident I could immediately assemble a capable administrative team from the existing faculty and staff.

My initial objectives included:

• Initiation of a strategic and tactical planning process.
• Enhancement of the academic culture by increasing support for faculty development, research, and scholarly activity.
• Expansion of the clinical educational program by initially adding 50 community-based training sites.
• Initiation of a search for a new Dean/Vice President for Academic Affairs.
• Review and modification, as appropriate, of the administrative organization.
• Enhancement of the institutional culture, by improvement of services to students, patients, alumni, and employees.
• Ensurance of the financial stability of the institution, including the enhancement of revenue streams.
• Review and modification of the master buildings and facilities program.
• Improvement of management information systems.
• Enhancement of personnel management.
• Development and implementation of public relations and fund-raising programs.
• Redirection of resources formerly allocated to an ambitious building program into programmatic improvements.

I believed that it was vital that our planning process promote open avenues of dialog with internal and external constituencies. I knew from my PCO experiences that each graduate of ICO is important to the college. I needed their perspective, but – even more importantly – I had to make them part of the decision-making process. I commissioned a survey of alumni/alumnae needs and concerns that not only had an immediate impact on our strategic planning, but led to the creation of ongoing communication channels that continue to affect our strategic planning. One very dramatic outcome of alumni input was ICO’s recent decision to freeze tuition, increase scholarship funding, and reduce the entering class size.

We also brought the broader community into the planning process. The Illinois Eye Institute had a long and well-recognized record of serving the community and we wanted to be even better neighbors. We appointed a Community Advisory Board (CAB). This Board includes leaders of neighborhood organizations, school principals, representatives of government agencies serving the community, clergymen, and members of ICO’s senior administration. We deal with various issues of mutual interest to ICO and the community, such as employment opportunities, construction projects, real estate transactions, and minority student recruitment.

It was now our task to channel these processes into a tangible plan of action. With input generated through countless meetings, reviews, evaluations, and reevaluations, we created a 70-page document, the Prescription for Excellence. It contains five major goals, each with detailed, quantifiable action steps and completion dates. Thee action steps also identified the department responsible for their implementation. Regular monthly meetings were scheduled to evaluate our progress. These meetings – which continue today – are open to all members of the ICO community.

The Prescription for Excellence was immediately effective. The goals and directions we established continue to be important, but even more important is the process we created whereby each member of every ICO constituency has the opportunity to be meaningfully involved in the planning process. The Prescription for Excellence is now in its second generation, as the Journey to Excellence.

Several important themes emerged during the planning process that have helped created a new culture at ICO. Through the planning process, five major goals were crystallized:

• Provision of excellence in education and scholarly activity.
• Creation and maintenance of reputation as an institution that is characterized by exceptional accountability.
• Provision of excellence in service, as defined by our students, patients, alumni, and employees.
• Provision of excellence in health care.
• Achievement of recognition as a center of influence within the profession and the community.

These goals are now the basis for the performance agreements that exist between every member of senior administration and the President, as well as an agreement between the Board of Trustees and the President. These agreements are what each of us is measured by; they are the basis for budgeting and for departmental planning.

What progress have you made in addressing your objectives and have your expectations been met?

Strategic planning has been very successful at ICO and not just by our own measurement. Nearly 70% of the initial action items contained in the original plan have been completed. The following are all the direct outgrowth of ICO’s planning process:

• Appointment of Janice E. Scharre, O.D., MS, as Dean/Vice President for Academic Affairs.
• Achievement of continuing accreditation by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, without stipulation or monitoring.
• Creation of open dialog with key constituency groups.
• Achievement of strong financial position for the institution.
• Diversification of the Board of Trustees, including the appointment of faculty representatives and minority representation.
• Achievement of increase in patient encounters at the Illinois Eye Institute.
• Successful restructure of ICO’s debt through the issuance of $45 million in variable-rate tax-exempt bonds, which allowed more flexible investment of $22 million in assets.
• Institution of numerous financial controls and safeguards.
• Reorganization of the administrative team, including the formation of a President’s Advisory Council
• Improvement of student services and culture by response to a comprehensive student satisfaction survey.
• Affiliation with the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at the University of Chicago.
• Expansion of externships from 9 sites to 97 sites in the United States and abroad.
• Completion of $8.5 million in campus capital improvements, including renovations to the physical plant, purchase of new ophthalmic equipment, and installation of extensive informational systems technology.
• Achievement of an all-time high student retention rate of 97.1%.
• Participation in the continued resurgence of the neighborhood development around the College by improvement of the external appearance of the college campus and other college-owned property.
• Reinstatement of a faculty practice plan.
• Enhancement of employee and trustee communications by issuance of a comprehensive Employee Manual, a revised Faculty Handbook, and a Board of Trustees compendium of Resolutions and Action Items.
• Receipt of a report from the Council on Optometric Education, during an interim site visit in 1998, that ICO had addressed all previous recommendations and suggestions.
• Revision and improvement of the Practice Management course, including the initiation of an annual practice opportunities symposium, in which students have the opportunity to learn about all modes of optometric practice.
• Enhancement of faculty governance with creation of the faculty executive committee and expansion of the committee structure.
• Achievement of increased student-patient care encounters by 68%.
• Development and implementation of a course for University of Chicago second-year medical students in basic eye care procedures.
• Expansion of ICO’s residency program to include residencies in cornea/contact lenses and anterior segment/refractive surgery.
• Achievement of increased quality of entering students, as measured by average GPA and OAT scores over the past three years.
• Settlement of all outstanding legal matters.
• Freeze of the tuition at FY98-99 level.
• Achievement of increased scholarship funding.
• Improvement of relations with the corporate community.

I can honestly say that my expectations have been greatly exceeded. I attribute this to the dedication, hard work, and perseverance of ICO’s Board of Trustees, faculty, staff, and student leadership for their support and willingness to adjust to my management style.

I am very proud of our affiliation with the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at the University of Chicago. It came about, in part, as a result of the account of my earlier experiences with cooperative efforts between optometry and ophthalmology that had appeared in Archives of Ophthalmology. Terrance Ernest, M.D., Ph.D., chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at the University of Chicago, had read the article I co-authored with Myron Yanoff, M.D. in 1990 on the affiliation between Hahnemann University and PCO. Dr. Ernest believes – as I do – that there is tremendous potential for further cooperation between optometry and ophthalmology. Now that I was at ICO, Dr. Ernest approached me with the possibility of a similar agreement with the University of Chicago. The proposed affiliation quickly became part of our planning process. In October 1997, Dr. Ernest and I signed the affiliation agreement as one event of my inaugural-week activities. The affiliation continues to be highly successful as the relationship expands and new elements are added to the basic agreement.

What is the future direction of ICO, optometric education, and the profession of optometry?

Although in retrospect I believe I may have underestimated the complexity of the issues facing optometric education when I assumed the presidency of ICO, I remain as optimistic of the future as I did on my arrival. But I do see changes ahead for ICO and optometric education. Indeed, my optimism is grounded in the belief these changes are not only necessary, but inevitable. I believe for ICO to continue to excel, we must:

• Successfully mange the decreasing optometric and health care student pool.
• Reduce student indebtedness.
• Address issues of eye care manpower.
• Restructure the clinical education program to be more cost-efficient while we maintain academic quality.
• Launch major capital and deferred giving campaigns and sustain an intense development effort.
• Significantly increase the Illinois Eye Institute revenues and expand our faculty practice plan.
• Further diversify the Board of Trustees and increase its size by recruiting Board members with needed expertise and philanthropic capabilities.
• Continue to provide students with a voice in College affairs, including representation on the Board of Trustees.
• Improve faculty scholarly activity – specifically, externally funded research, clinical trials, and publications.
• Greatly expand instructional technology.
• Ensure that curriculum is consistent with defined entry-level attributes.
• Continue the emphasis on strategic and tactical planning with outcome-based assessment as the measure of progress.
• Develop and implement an advanced competency curriculum.
• Enhance our position – in cooperation with the University of Chicago – as a provider of comprehensive eye care services within the Chicago-land health care market.
• Develop and implement and O.D./Ph.D. program in cooperation with the University of Chicago.
• Achieve continuing accreditation by the Council on Optometric Education.
• Improve personnel relations with ICO – particularly as it pertains to positive attitude and respect for one another, with a special effort to acknowledge individual and group achievements.
• Expand our foreign student recruitment program to extend beyond North America.

The challenges facing ICO – to a greater or lesser extent – are the same issues that face many of the schools and colleges of optometry. In general, I see the following trends in optometric education:

• We will see a lessening of our dependency on camps-based clinics for the clinical education of third and fourth-year optometry students. Driven initially by economics – but, I believe providing for greater diversity of educational experiences – we will see more community-based training sites or externships for fourth-professional-year students and some third-year students.
• Campus-based clinics will remain valuable for first- and second-year students.
• College-based clinics will serve a significant role as faculty practice becomes more important as a means to enhance faculty income and improve the schools’ and colleges’ ability to recruit and retain highly qualified clinicians.
• We will see a movement away from traditional classroom teaching toward more technology-assisted self-learning through the rapid advances being made in communication and computer-based technology. The college, however, must be prepared to assist the faculty in changing their teaching strategies.
• Acquisition of critical analysis skills will become as important as a solid foundation in the basic and health sciences.
• There will be recognition that the function of a school or college is to prepare doctors of optometry for a lifetime of learning in their field.
• We will have to redefine the entry-level attributes of our students and modify our curriculum to emphasize a lifelong commitment to learning.
• While graduates must learn to be well-grounded in the fundamentals of their profession, the purpose of this grounding must be to position them to continue the learning process.
• Students must learn to focus on the opportunity for interaction with faculty and with one another while on campus – they must commit to a philosophy that emphasizes the acquisition and appropriate application of knowledge over information absorption and memorization.
• We will see the development and utilization of a national faculty in several disciplines, linked through developing technology. All schools and colleges of optometry will be able to access a faculty made up of our very finest educators.
• Cooperation between optometry and ophthalmology – that began at the New England College of Optometry’s Boston clinics and carried forward at PCO with Hahnemann University and at ICO with the University of Chicago – will continue and intensify.
• We must then be prepared to offer meaningful advanced competency education to practicing optometrists as a core value of optometric education.
• Residency programs will continue to increase, but at a more modest rate.
• I believe the future direction of the profession of optometry will be fueled by the economics of the managed care marketplace.
• The cooperative environment among opticians, optometrist, and ophthalmologists that exists at the academic level and – in several instances – in other practice modes will intensify.
• Distinctions in practice modes will continue to blur among the three groups. Economic realities will override emotional opposition and force closer cooperation. Individual claims of priority and historical territorial imperatives will be forced to give way.
• Quality assurance programs and advanced competency certification and accreditation will become increasingly important.
• The expansion of the scope of practice of optometry will consist mainly of amendment and clarification to existing practice laws.
• Ultimately, all states will grant appropriate and extensive prescriptive authority to optometrists.
• The expanded use of laser technology by optometrist will evolve slowly over the next two decades.
• Consultation among practicing professionals will take advantage of advances in technology. Consultations with national eye centers of excellence will become the norm, as precise retinal images and other data are instantly transmitted from one point to another in real time.
• We will see fewer independent, private practitioners of optometry in the future and more multi-practice settings, more optometrists in HMOs, hospitals, and other institutional settings. What is often termed “corporate optometry” will continue to expand for the foreseeable future.
• Schools and colleges of optometry will recognize their responsibility to expose their students to a wide variety of practice modes, and to discuss each opportunity openly and honestly.
• Health care third-party payers will continue to exert enormous influence on the practice of health care – eye care included. In this vein, it is imperative that optometry solidify its position as the primary eye care provider with the managed care market.

We live, learn, teach, and practice in tremendously exciting times. I believe the future of optometry is as great as our ability to translate our vision for the profession into strategic and tactical plans of action – and as promising as our courage and tenacity to implement those plans.

Charles F. Mullen, O.D.
Journal of the American Optometric Association.
September 1999. Volume 70. Number 9.

The most immediate ramifications of this decision will be felt by current ICO students. “I am pleased to inform the ICO community,” Dr. Mullen announced, “that tuition for the academic year 1999-2000 will not increase above the current level of $22,668.”

The decision to freeze tuition was based on several factors, according to members of the President’s Advisory Council (PAC).

While ICO’s tuition has traditionally been high, it has been close to other private schools and colleges of optometry. In recent years, however, the gap between ICO and its private counterparts has begun to widen, lessening ICO’s ability to compete for top quality students in some instances. “There is no doubt the high cost of tuition at ICO is beginning to make an impact,” said Dean for Student Affairs Mark Colip, O.D., “and not only in relation to other schools of optometry.” He said there are indications that nationwide academically gifted undergraduates are sometimes bypassing optometry altogether to pursue less expensive educational avenues.

Another concern was the high level of indebtedness carried by recent ICO graduates. “Our students are graduating with debts averaging $145,000,” said Janice Sharre, O.D., Dean for Academic Affairs. “Servicing debt of that size, even amortized over thirty years, can have a significant impact on both one’s professional decisions and personal lifestyle” she said.

“Obviously, we’re pleased that tuition is going to be frozen,” said Student Body President Keri Navi. “We feel this step is absolutely necessary to ensure that today’s student will be an active member of the Alumni Association.”

The reduction of entering class sizes will begin with a five student reduction in the size of the class admitted in the year 2000 (the class of 2004). The intention is to continue to reduce entering classes by five students for five years, when the class of 2010 will enter with 149 students. Again, a number of considerations led to this decision.

“When I sent the annual President’s Letter to the alumni and alumnae this past fall we included a response card asking them to identify challenges facing the College and the profession,” said Dr. Mullen. “A significant number of those responding felt the profession could not continue to absorb the number of students graduating with optometry degrees in today’s health care market,” he explained.

ICO is committed to increasing scholarship support. “Holding the line on tuition and reducing entering class size will make us more attractive to those considering optometry school,” said Dr. Colip. “But competition for students is becoming greater as the number of applicants for optometry schools continues to decline nationwide. If we are to remain competitive for the very best students we will have to increase the amount and the diversity of the scholarship support we offer prospective students.”

While confident of the wisdom, and even the necessity, of this course of action, Dr. Mullen cautioned that it will be difficult and may require adjustment to the plan over time. Still, Dr. Mullen and the Board of Trustees are convinced these actions are necessary. “If we failed to act as we did,” Dr. Mullen said, “and allowed tuition to continue to increase and class size to remain at the current level while scholarship aid remained static we would eventually have faced a crisis where even drastic action might not suffice. In this manner, by implementing measured and carefully considered actions now, as difficult as they might be, we can insure that ICO will retain a position of leadership in optometric education.”

A key component to making this plan viable, said Patrick McCallig, Vice President for Institutional Advancement, will be continued alumni support. “In order to finance increased scholarship aid while reducing tuition income, through a combination of fewer students and freezing tuition costs, we will need to grow our endowment,” Mr. McCallig said. “So far alumni approval for the plan has been strong, and I anticipate it will be reflected in alumni support for the College.”

In announcing these plans to the College Dr. Mullen thanked those whose hard work had made it possible. “To do this required that some difficult decisions be made,” he said. “It would not have been possible without the support and encouragement of our students, faculty, administrators, staff and Board of Trustees. To all of you I extend my sincere appreciation.”

Dr. Mullen reaffirmed his commitment that these reductions and reallocations in resources would not result in any diminishment of ICO’s commitment to excellence, “I can assure you,” he said, “that appropriate resources will be available to support our mission of excellence in education, patient care and scholarly activity.”

“I am very proud to be associated with ICO and its tradition of leadership which,” he concluded, “once again was demonstrated by this bold decision.”

ICO Matters. Spring/Summer 1999.
Dr. Charles F. Mullen, ICO President