Task Force Seeks Ways fro CSUF, SCCO to Partner

Cal State Fullerton and its higher-education neighbor to the north, the Southern California College of Optometry (SCCO), have formed a joint task force to strengthen relations and explore opportunities for mutual benefit.

The eight-member group, convened jointly by the presidents of both institutions, began meeting in the fall to discuss sharing institutional expertise and facilities.

“We’re exploring new ways to enhance collaboration and maximize resources,” said CSUF Executive Vice President Judith Anderson, who chairs the task force. Noting that the two institutions have been working together for at least three decades, she said that both are eager to build upon that foundation.

“What is best for our students is our main goal,” said CSUF President Milton A. Gordon.

SCCO President Lesley L. Walls expressed the hope that students and others would be “better off because of our joint cooperation.”

Fullerton students already have benefited from internships completed on the SCCO campus, in the library and the human resources department. In addition, a long-standing agreement between the two campuses allows students, as well as faculty members, joint borrowing privileges at the CSUF and SCCO libraries.

Fullerton students currently have access twice a week to urgent care vision services provided by SCCO at CSUF’s Student Health and Counseling Center.

To branch out, four areas have been identified by the task force for initial study: the Faculty Development Center and Titan Bookstore, plus the co-generation of electrical power, and employment training and development. Project groups have been formed, bringing in additional SCCO/CSUF members, who have been meeting to explore initiatives.

The possibility of merging bookstore operations and of CSUF producing course packets for SCCO faculty members is being discussed, along with permitting SCCO students to buy computers from the Titan Bookstore.

Task force members are contemplating whether the educational/training services offered by the Faculty Development Center and Employee Training and Development could be offered to those employed at SCCO.

“On those occasions when there would be vacancies in our workshops, we could include SCCO faculty members on a cost-recovery basis,” explained Sandra Sutphen, acting director of the Faculty Development Center.

In the arena of scholarship, expanding the number of joint research projects for faculty members and students has emerged as an area of interest for both campuses. Records indicate that scholars from both institutions have been collaborating for decades on studies in a variety of areas, ranging from child abuse to visual acuity.

The CSUF/SCCO collaboration incorporates services, as well as scholarship. CSUF faculty and staff members can receive eye care from SCCO – an approved vision service provider. SCCO’s remodeled Eye Care Center and construction of a full-service laser center slated to open in June will be available to those at Fullerton who select SCCO as a provider.

Students are the beneficiaries of specialized services, including vision training for athletes, low vision rehabilitation, and electro-diagnostics for those who have had major head trauma or a debilitating disease, such as multiple sclerosis. Customized plans for those without health insurance coverage for vision care also are offered. Expanding such services is contemplated, along with extended hours for urgent care in the Student Health and Counseling Center.

CSUF task force members are: Anderson; Willie Hagan, vice president for administration; Robert L. Palmer. Jr., vice president for student affairs; and Ephraim Smith, vice president for academic affairs.

SCCO members are: Robert A. Baird, vice president for administration; Morris S. Berman, vice president and dean of academic affairs; John Nishimoto, dean of clinical affairs; and Lorraine I. Voorhees, dean of student affairs.

Arnold Miller, a member of both the CSUF University Advisory Board and the SCCO Board of Trustees, participated in early meetings geared to enhancing collaboration between the two institutions.

“Both institutions have specialized skills and specialized needs, and regardless of size, many of these cannot reside in any one place,” noted Miller. “Here we are in Fullerton, ‘The Education Community,’ with a remarkable opportunity to utilize each other’s capabilities. ”