Thursday, April 17, 2014

Reynolds Opticianry Program celebrates 40th Anniversary



 

An enthusiastic crowd of students, faculty, staff, alumni and guests gathered on the Downtown Campus on Friday, April 11 to mark the 40th anniversary of the Opticianry Program at Reynolds Community College.

The first class of Opticianry students at Reynolds began their studies in September of 1974 when the college was located in the former Sydnor and Hundley building on West Grace Street between East First and East Second Street.  The program was housed in the building’s basement and the office was in an old stock room.  The only door was a rolling door and the office also boasted an old coal chute on the wall. In spite of its humble beginnings, the program graduated its first class of three students in June of 1976. 

The initial program was as a diploma program, but it was upgraded to an Associate of Applied Science (AAS) degree program in the spring of 1977. This was critical as most states that had licensing only recognized graduates from AAS degree programs to sit for their licensing examinations. By 1980, the program received its first accreditation from the Commission on Opticianry Accreditation.

In 1981 when the Downtown Campus moved to its current location on Jackson Street a larger space allocated to the Opticianry Program allowed for surfacing, finishing, and dispensing labs, along with an on-campus eyeglass clinic dedicated to Joe Stewart, the program’s first director.  

The Opticianry program charted new territory in 2000 with the implementation of the online AAS Degree program. This program enabled students anywhere to take the program’s AAS degree via the Internet and remains the only opticianry degree program in the United States to offer the entire curriculum via distance learning. 

A total of 374 students have graduated from the program, and there have been awards along the way.  Reynolds Opticianry students have won the National Opticianry College Bowl, several students have received the NAO Beverly Myers Award for research paper submissions, grants for winning the Hoya E-Poster contests, scholarships from Transitions Optical and scholarships to attend national education conferences from the Contact Lens Society of America.  Students have also had papers published in professional journals and served as student representatives on the board of the Opticians Association of Virginia. 

The gathering on April 11 celebrated not just the 374 students who graduated from the program, but the remarkable and dedicated faculty and staff who worked to make the program a success and to build a strong foundation for continued growth of the Opticianry Program into the future.  Reynolds Community College….where outstanding opticians get started!