Latest News Midwestern University to Open New Optometry College in Chicago, Names Dean for Downers Grove Campus By Staff Monday, May 30, 2016 12:24 AM GLENDALE, Ariz.—Citing the aging U.S. population and an increasing demand for professional vision care, Midwestern University, based here, is establishing a new optometry program on its Downers Grove campus, near Chicago. The University has received approval from both the Illinois Board of Higher Education (IBHE) and the Accreditation Council on Optometric Education (ACOE) to begin offering this new Doctor of Optometry (OD) professional degree program.To recruit the best and brightest students to this new college, while helping to expand the overall pool of applicants who are interested in optometry as a career, the University is launching an extensive public awareness and recruitment campaign for the new four-year program over the next 18 months. During this time, the University will continue to grow its patient treatment services at the Eye Institute, which is part of the Midwestern University Multispecialty Clinic in Downers Grove, Ill. Construction will also begin on a new state-of-the-art classroom and laboratory facility on the academic campus, which will be specifically designed to meet the needs of the optometry faculty and students. Interested students may apply to the school through the OptomCAS website beginning in July 2016. The inaugural class of 60 students at the optometry program will begin their studies in the fall of 2017.Midwestern University also announced the appointment of Sunny M. Sanders, OD, FAAO, as the dean of the optometry program. Dr. Sanders previously served the University as an associate dean and associate professor of the Arizona College of Optometry on the Glendale Campus. She was part of the leadership team that led the Arizona College of Optometry through its successful accreditation process."Dr. Sanders has extensive academic and clinical experiences and we are very pleased that she has accepted this new position as we continue to develop the Downers Grove optometry program," said Kathleen H. Goeppinger, PhD, president and CEO of Midwestern University. Dr. Sanders brings more than a decade of teaching experience in optometry and practice management, and clinical experience in the specialty areas of ocular prosthetics and contact lenses to Midwestern University. Prior to accepting the post at Midwestern University, Dr. Sanders was an associate professor of optometry and assistant dean for clinical affairs at the Southern California College of Optometry in Fullerton, Calif. and before that, an assistant professor and clinic administrator at the Illinois College of Optometry in Chicago. She received her optometry degree and completed her post-doctoral fellowship at the Illinois College of Optometry. In addition, Dr. Sanders has more than 20 years of private practice experience, having owned and operated two successful optometry practices in California.The Optometry Program has been granted the accreditation classification of Preliminary Approval as of March 2, 2016 by the Accreditation Council on Optometric Education (ACOE), of the American Optometric Association (AOA). "Preliminary Approval" is the classification granted to a professional degree program that has clearly demonstrated it is developing in accordance with Council standards. The Midwestern University Arizona College of Optometry was granted accreditation in April 2013 by ACOE.