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Accreditation Next Hurdle for OU’s New Medical College Campus
By: Michael Locklear
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Now that the city of Dublin has donated more than 70 acres of land for Ohio University's new medical college campus, OU administrators are tackling their next hurdle: accreditation.
Dr. Jack Brose is the dean of the Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine, and he says the process is going smoothly.
"The next steps, then, would be things like site visits," said Brose. "They actually send teams of accreditors to central Ohio to look at what we're doing, look at our plans for faculty and staffing, looking at facilities, and then make a recommendation to the accreditation agency."
Brose said he presented the college's case to the Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation in Chicago over the weekend.
Earlier this week, Dublin City Council voted to donate land for the new medical campus, which has yet to be named.
Dublin City Manager Marsha Grigsby said the donation was an important incentive for the selection of Dublin as the site.
"It fits right in line with some of the goals that we have with trying to pursue medical opportunities," said Grigsby, "And then also just having a higher learning institution in the community was something that was very benificial."
The dean said administrators are making preparations to have the first class of medical students start in Dublin in the fall of 2014.
"So far, so good. It's all dependent on the accreditation process, but so far, it's moved forward just as we had expected it to, and we're very hopeful that we will stay on that 2014 timeline."
A few weeks ago, the state controlling board approved the university's $11 million purchase of about 15 acres and two buildings for the school.