ACOE Amends COVID-related policies

ACOE Amends COVID-related policies

At its meeting held October 23 -25, the Accreditation Council on Optometric Education (ACOE) voted to amend its COVID-related temporary policies and advisories in light of the continuing federally declared disaster.

Three new advisories were subsequently published on the ACOE website:

• Amendment to ACOE's Advisory Statement on Temporary Flexibilities for OD Programs re: modifications to program established curriculum requirements, program length, use of distance learning, and complying with ACOE standard 2.10.2.1 re: externship site visits by the program 
• Amendment to ACOE's Policy on Extension of Accreditation
• Amendment to ACOE's Temporary Policy for Virtual Site Visits, Granting Extensions of Accreditation, Providing Good Cause Extensions, and Granting Retroactive Accreditations

If an optometric institution is scheduled for an on-site review in 2021, expect to be contacted regarding planning for a visit in the coming months. 

Communication on the amended policies is also being sent to the directors of residency programs at the schools and colleges and to the residency program supervisors. Contact Stephanie A. Puljak at ACOE with any questions.