BUDGET MINDED: - Illinois College of Optometry

ICO MATTERS FALL 2008
13
FEATURE: EYE ON FACULTY
A CRITICAL INVESTMENT
THE FACULTY CARRY THE PROGRAM AT ICO
Dr. Elizabeth Wyles
Dr. Susan Kelly with students
Some people outside the field of
optometry may have questioned
Elizabeth Wyles when she decided to
leave the Northwest United States to
move to northern Illinois. But those
who know optometry can understand.
Regional climate aside, “There are few,
if any, clinical situations like we have
at ICO,” says Wyles. “Having been at
two other institutions and in private
practice, I was swept away by the professional
opportunities that were here
for me.”
Wyles joined the faculty in August of
2006. Of course she had heard of ICO, and she learned more as she
sat on the exam Boards with Professor Gary Lesher, ICO’s
Chairman of Basic and Health Sciences. But it wasn’t until she
started working in the Illinois Eye Institute that she realized the
true value of the College. “You can explain our clinic and people
think you’re exaggerating,” she says. “It’s a plethora of ocular disease
and refractive conditions. It’s incredibly educational.” And
Wyles means that in terms of the students and for herself.
As a result, Wyles has been happy with her work at ICO. She says
the only thing she longs for is more time. “We always want additional
time to teach,” she says. “Particularly in clinic. We have such
a busy clinic. It’s a challenge to balance education and patient care.
But that’s inherent in any good clinic. That’s not a bad thing.”
Nonetheless, Dr. Kent Daum, Vice President and Dean for
Academic Affairs, is working to alleviate those pressures. He makes
great efforts to ensure the environment at ICO is comfortable for
faculty. “Faculty here are highly goaloriented,”
he says. “They figure out
how to meet the students’ needs
without vast resources, without extra
time. But because they are goal-oriented,
they don’t necessarily speak
their needs. Being able to listen to
what the faculty are saying, hearing
about what people are doing and
how. That simple process of helping
them – that’s a very important part of
my job.”
And it’s a challenging one. “People
underestimate how an institution
works,” Daum says. “They don’t recognize
how expensive it is, how many
people you need to have a highly productive
program like we have.”
He points out that 65 percent of the
College’s budget goes to personnel
costs. That leaves the other 35 percent for everything else, including
utilities and maintenance. “The expenses associated with the academic
program and the clinic are most important,” says John
Budzynski, Vice President for Business and Finance/CFO. “But we
can’t cut electricity. We have to be aware of the high maintenance
cost of the facility. Some things we have to ask whether we can
postpone.”
That’s where philanthropy
comes in. “The work of the
Development Office is so
important for addressing
needs,” Budzynski says. And
Daum concurs. “I just really
appreciate the support of
those who give so much,” he
says. “We’ve had some wonderful
support. For example,
Jeff Smith, [OD ’83], has
given money for faculty
development. We have support
for an entire array of
research projects, and Dr.
Dan Roberts has won
national funding. Those gifts
and grants make a big difference
to us.”
Dr. Kent Daum, Dean/Vice President
for Academic Affairs
On the other hand, Daum says, “The thing that puts us on the edge
a little is that the work load is high and the compensation is challenging.
Those are the stressors. I and others are continuously working
to resolve some of that.”