The AOA’s Board of Trustees submitted a proposal to amend the organization’s bylaws that, if approved, would give the Accreditation Council on Optometric Education (ACOE) the authority to inspect and accredit providers of optometric continuing education. The ACOE already has the authority to accredit schools and colleges of optometry.

Currently, the main accrediting body of optometric CE is the Council on Optometric Practitioner Education (COPE), which is overseen by the Association of Regulatory Boards of Optometry (ARBO).

The ACOE proposal will be voted on at the AOA’s House of Delegates meeting in late June. Meanwhile, ARBO is planning a report in response to this proposal.