ACOE authorizes Virginia optometry school to move toward accreditation

The Accreditation Council on Optometric Education has designated Emory & Henry College as a "stage one applicant," according to a press release from the college.

The distinction signals the first step in the process toward accreditation.

As detailed in the release, Emory & Henry College and the Appalachian College of Optometry began working together in developing an optometry school earlier this year. The school would be the first school of optometry in Virginia.

"We are excited to have passed the first test in the accreditation process and to be moving toward the possibility of an Emory & Henry College School of Optometry in Grundy," Dave Haney, vice president for academic affairs at Emory & Henry, said in the release.

In the study to demonstrate the need for the school, it was estimated that by the ninth year of the school's existence, the economic impact on the area would be approximately $30 million, and the school would create about 325 jobs.

According to the release, Emory & Henry now has 3 years to complete the requirements for the next stage of the process, which entails three stages.