College of Optometrists

Governance structure

 The College is governed by a Board of Trustees which is elected by the College Council.  The Board of Trustees, which has the legal and fiduciary responsibility for the College as a chartered body with charitable status, is made up of 10 optometrist members of Council and one lay member of Council plus up to three co optees, two of whom must be optometrists.  The Board meets eight times a year.

The Council is responsible for determining the strategic and professional direction of the College.  Members in the 12 regions elect 35 Councillors, four are nominated from the College’s Lay Advisory Panel and one is nominated by the British Universities Committee of Optometry (BUCO). It meets three times a year. 

Council membership

• 35 of whom are elected on a regional basis by members living or working in that region
• four nominated by the College’s Lay Advisory Panel
• one nominated by (BUCO) British Universities Committee on Optometry,

• four elected officers, elected by Council as officers and automatically becoming trustees
• six regionally elected Council members, elected as trustees by Council
• one lay Council member, elected as trustee by Council