2010 Annual Report

“Building upon NECO’s standards of excellence
requires not only an unremitting focus on
what we do well, but also a fearless imagining
of what we can accomplish in the future.”
“The decisions we make over the next
several years will impact our growth
and sustainability in the coming
decade and beyond.”
From best practice to next practice
Taking the long view
For almost 120 years, New England College of
Healthcare System. NECO has also received a $1.3
Sustaining excellence requires a commitment to
Today, many institutions and individuals are not
Optometry (NECO) has embodied best practices in
million grant from the National Institutes of Health
continuous self-evaluation and a willingness to
only tightening their budgets, but also evaluating
optometric education. Inherent in our definition of
(NIH) that focuses on the development of new
evolve. At NECO, we’re taking the long view by
their spending to ensure that they invest in what
best practices is a creative approach toward “next
optical techniques to image rod photoreceptors in
carefully considering how the decisions we make
matters most. I hope you will continue to invest in
practices” that build upon NECO’s standards of
both normal and diseased retinas. These efforts will
over the next several years will impact our growth
NECO’s future through your financial support. Your
excellence in education and clinical care. That dual
be led, respectively, by NECO faculty members
and sustainability in the coming decade and beyond.
gifts strengthen our efforts to sustain and enhance
orientation requires not only an unremitting focus
on what we do well, but also a fearless imagining of
what we can accomplish in the future – both in the
classroom and through our research efforts.
We all know that tomorrow’s classrooms will look
Stacey S. Choi, OD, PhD and Nathan Doble, PhD.
The heritage of the College is one of discovery,
imagination, and a willingness to embrace
technological and paradigmatic change with
insight and enthusiasm. We continue to address
The bold creativity that characterizes the NECO
community extends beyond our classrooms, clinics,
and laboratories to our operations as well. We’re
determined to make investments in our academic
programs and research endeavors, technological
those aspects of the College that matter most to
our students and the greater Boston community: the
excellence of our programs, the high quality of our
faculty, and the far-reaching impact of our research
and clinical work.
very different from those of today. As technology
tomorrow’s challenges and demands from a firm
infrastructure, and facilities that will have a positive
We will continue to keep you informed of the
continues to transform the student experience, a
foundation of excellence – a foundation that will
impact on our students, our faculty, our profession,
progress of our strategic initiatives and look forward
growing number of courses will no longer follow
serve us well as we work to honor our legacy of
and the patients we serve. In this way, we honor the
to your feedback as we work together to build a
the traditional model of a lecture hall filled with
making a difference to our students, the
investments that others – alumni, friends,
long-term and sustainable operating framework
students. At NECO, we are shaping strategies for
community, and the optometric profession.
foundations, and government agencies – make in us.
for NECO.
the development and implementation of a more
self-directed educational model in which students
are free to learn at their own pace, enabling them
to earn credits as they amass knowledge rather
than credit hours.
On the scientific side, we are poised to begin a
major project that involves conducting important
Clifford Scott, OD ’68, MPH
President
Our ability to meet this goal is inextricably linked
to the economic realities we face as a small private
college – one that is heavily dependent on tuition
revenues and is housed in aging facilities that are
costly to maintain. For that reason, we recently
convened a Special Committee on Physical Facilities
and Business Modeling to evaluate NECO’s current
Steven P. Manfredi
Chair of the Board
translational research in the area of adaptive optics.
physical plant and operational model in light of our
Thanks to a $1.5 million grant from the
ongoing expenditures and projected space and
Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research
technology requirements. Comprising trustees,
Center (TATRC) of the Department of Defense,
external experts, faculty, staff, students, and alumni,
NECO will be investigating high-resolution retinal
the committee will provide recommendations
imaging as a diagnostic marker for blast-induced
that will enable NECO to meet its strategic goals
traumatic brain injury. The College will conduct this
while becoming a more efficient and financially
research in collaboration with the VA Boston
sustainable institution.
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ANNUAL REPORT 2010
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