Nova Southeastern, National Vision end agreement to rename college

Nova Southeastern University’s College of Optometry and National Vision Inc. have mutually agreed to end a recently announced philanthropic agreement.

On Sept. 25, NSU announced the college of optometry received a significant financial commitment from National Vision Inc. to provide the college with student scholarships, faculty research and equipment for the college’s simulation lab.

In return, the college of optometry agreed to rename itself NSU National Vision College of Optometry for an initial term of 10 years.

All terms of this agreement have been terminated, according to a joint press release from the organizations.

“Although our organizations share many core values – particularly for serving our larger communities – we have come to realize that the issues associated with corporate philanthropy in the health sciences are still too nascent,” NSU President and CEO George Hanbury, PhD, said in the release.

In a letter dated Sept. 28, prior to the terminated agreement, the American Optometric Association voiced concern over the issue to Darin Paulson, OD, chair of the Accreditation Council for Optometric Education.

“We recognize that corporate support of educational institutions is not new,” AOA President Samuel D. Pierce, OD, said in the letter. “However, we feel that naming a school after a corporation is inappropriate and suggestive of a relationship between the donor and the program that has the potential to influence the curriculum, especially as it relates to the development of practice skills through externship programs and other means.

“We note that corporate influence on postgraduate education, commonly referred to as ‘continuing education,’ is strictly regulated by accrediting bodies in order to prevent one company's priorities influencing the care that patients receive, just as most states regulate corporate ownership of optometry practices for similar reasons,” Pierce added.

National Vision has been a long-time supporter of NSU and its optometry education program, including having donated a binocular indirect ophthalmoscope simulator to the college’s training lab in 2015. The company has also sponsored numerous student events over the past few years, according to the joint release.