Optometry School at A&T?

[captaggie]

Excerpt below from following News and Record article - N.C. budget: What's in it for Greensboro colleges?

Optometry school in Greensboro? State lawmakers want the UNC system to do a feasibility study on an optometry school. (Optometrists are medical professionals who do eye exams, among other things, but they’re not medical doctors.) North Carolina has no such program. N.C. A&T and Winston-Salem State are among the eight sites that the UNC system will consider.

[Aggie77]

"Union Square Campus" & "Opportunity Greensboro", I don't recall hearing these terms before, anybody know what this is about?

[Aggie One]

Union Square Campus is a key initiative of Opportunity Greensboro, a working group of leaders from Greensboro businesses, foundations and higher education institutions. This national model of collaboration is identifying and acting on opportunities to transform our wealth of educational assets into economic success—creating for Greensboro a competitive advantage for business growth. The first campus building will focus on training and education for healthcare professions. The approximately 105,000 square foot building is estimated to cost between $37- 40 million including land, infrastructure and equipment. It will be a cornerstone of the broader Union Square at South Elm project and serve as a stimulus for surrounding mixed use private development.

Training and education for healthcare professions – primarily nursing -- will comprise the first phase of Union Square Campus, with these initial key stakeholder/tenants: UNCG, NCA&T, GTCC, and Cone Health. By housing programs together, they can share lab space and equipment at significant cost savings.

For the rest of the story:

www.greensboro.org/action-greensboro/center-city/union-square-campus

www.greensboro.org/sites/default/files/UnionSquareCampus.pdf

[marchingband1969]

I remember years ago there was a rumor that we were in the running for a veterinarian school. I have a local vet (an NCCU/ Tuskegee grad) that was brought in to A&T to help us get in position for the competition for that program. In the end, we got "lab animal science" program and the vet school went to ECU. My friend the vet said we got hosed on the deal. Call me a pessimist but I wouldn't start breaking ground on that optometry school just yet. With them clowns we have in Raleigh now we'll probably end up on the short end of this deal.

[@ProfBellamy]

Aug 4, 2014 15:13:51 GMT -5 marchingband1969 said:

I remember years ago there was a rumor that we were in the running for a veterinarian school. I have a local vet (an NCCU/ Tuskegee grad) that was brought in to A&T to help us get in position for the competition for that program. In the end, we got "lab animal science" program and the vet school went to ECU. My friend the vet said we got hosed on the deal. Call me a pessimist but I wouldn't start breaking ground on that optometry school just yet. With them clowns we have in Raleigh now we'll probably end up on the short end of this deal.

The vet school is at NCSU. Don't discredit the lab animal science program as many of the grads from that program either go on to a DVM program or into other Ph.D. programs at top research one institutions.

I can see WSSU getting the program as they have done a better job positioning their nursing program through the MSN/DNP level.

[Aggie77]

So, is this Optometry Program going to be part of the Union Square Campus?

I think NCSU was the recipient of the Veterinary Medicine School, but your point is well taken. Does everybody know how much skin we have in the game for the Union Square Campus project?

Here's some more reading on the Union Square Campus: link

Like A1 said, the initial focus will training and education for healthcare professions, primarily nurses.

Space Needs (approximate) plus Shared Space:

PROGRAM	FIXED SPACE
NC A&T	3,000 sf
UNC-G	12,000 sf
GTCC	6,000 sf
Cone Health	500 sf
Total Fixed Space	21,500 sf
Total Shared Space	81,500 sf
Total Square Feet	103,000 sf

Projected student enrollment:

PROGRAM	NC A&T	UNC-G	GTCC	CONE
Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN)			100
RN To BSN/Enhanced BSN	85	50
Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)		232
Graduate Certificates	20
Radiography Technology			40
Staff Training				2800
Shared Simulation Center	105	282	140	2800

[aggielaw]

According to my pops(A&T Grad and Former Faculty), the powers that be just could not give the veterinarian school to an HBCU.

[SixtiesAggie]

Aug 4, 2014 22:04:37 GMT -5 aggielaw said:

According to my pops(A&T Grad and Former Faculty), the powers that be just could not give the veterinarian school to an HBCU.

He as well as others knew this, even though under the desegregation decree of the federal courts, A&T was to get the next major program. There were a number of other states with HBCUs, under this mandate by the court. The Vet School brings in big dollars, and there was no way that A&T was going to be allowed to receive the program. Instead A&T received the Animal Science Dept. and some money for Corbett Sports Center. However, A&T fought tooth and nail for the Vet School.