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By Rachel Childress, Director of Development

On October 4, the university kicked off the public phase of its new $4.5 billion campaign, Time and Change, The Ohio State Campaign. The college is responsible for $15 million of the overall goal by 2024. Great news? We already have $5 million as the counting began in 2016, and the majority of the funds we’ve raised in the last year have come from those who have supported our new clinic building at 11+Neil.

The official ribbon cutting for the new building is November 6 and 7, 2020 (of course it’s 2020!), which means we have less than a year to complete this part of our campaign. Between general giving to the facility and those who have generously named spaces, we’ve raised just about $1.5 million toward our $2 million goal.

If you have been considering adding your name to a room, now is the time. In fact there are only a few Primary Vision Care and Advanced Ocular Care exam rooms remaining. Pediatrics, Contact Lens and Low Vision still have many prime spaces in high traffic areas of their sections. In addition, there are some meeting spaces and other non-exam room spaces available as well.

Students, faculty and patients will be using this new clinic for decades to come, and we hope that you’ll want to be part of that experience by making a gift to this important project. I would be happy to talk with you about how we can best structure a gift that would fit your philanthropic plans.

Please reach out to
Rachel Childress to learn more:
614-292-2100 or
childress.35@osu.edu

by Dean Karla Zadnik, OD, PhD

This is the season of construction and renovation at Ohio State Optometry! There is visible progress—weekly–on our new building on the southeast corner of 11th and Neil Avenues that will house our clinic and associated functions and personnel. At the Maryland game, I had occasion to be in President Drake’s box at Ohio Stadium. I looked to the southeast and wondered what the construction I could see was. And lo and behold, it was us!

We will occupy the bottom three floors of the building. The first floor will house the Hoya Eyewear Gallery, patient reception, billing and other key clinic administrative personnel, our Low Vision Clinic, and our Vision Rehabilitation Service. Advanced Ocular Care, the Binocular Vision/Pediatric and Vision Therapy Services will occupy the second floor. Our Contact Lens and Primary Vision Care Services will occupy the entire third floor. In addition to patient care facilities, the building will include clinical faculty offices and open workspaces, a shared student/staff/faculty lounge, various conference and meeting rooms, IT, and a shop to service equipment. The building will look traditionally academic from the outside and will have an open, welcoming interior with lots of nooks and crannies for informal interactions among students, staff, and faculty.

Renovations in the Fry Tower are proceeding rapidly. The former patient-oriented research waiting areas on the fourth and fifth floors have been converted to conference rooms. Room 33 was changed to accommodate student life space and the classroom. The anatomy and optics teaching labs are being created in the space at the north end of the Fry Tower basement. The sixth floor was gutted to allow for an internal remodel to include the dean’s suite along with student services, advancement, communication, and financial/human resources staff. I am delighted at the amount of light and space the new design netted us. We moved in midDecember, and we are “loving” being out of Starling Loving Hall.

Once the construction is complete in autumn 2020, our two main locations will be separated from each other. We walked it off; 500 steps will get us from one building to another. We’ll be the healthiest college on campus!

We can’t see the future without you!