University of Houston College of Optometry Continuing Education

Registration Fee Policy

We are pleased to offer a variety of registration fee options to our participants that do not wish to attend our entire conference. Fees listed per conference are the only options available for each course. No other discounts or fee reductions apply.

Registration payment must be received by the UHCO CE Office in full prior to the conference date.

Walk-in registration availability varies by conference. Contact the CE office prior to the conference start date to inquire about seat availability and walk-in options.

Note: When walk-in options are available, an additional fee will be applied.

Synchronous In-Person Conference Registration

Conference participants receive:

Digital course notes for all lectures
Breakfast, coffee breaks, lunch
Direct reporting to CE Broker for the Texas Optometry Board and Florida Board of Optometry
Direct reporting to COPE
A certificate of completion
The option to complete Continuing Education with Examination (CEE) at no extra charge, when available

Synchronous Virtual Webinar Conference Registration

Conference participants receive:

Digital course notes for all lectures
Direct reporting to CE Broker for the Texas Optometry Board and Florida Board of Optometry
Direct reporting to COPE
A certificate of completion.

Cancellation Policy

The College reserves the right to cancel any conference two weeks in advance if registration is inadequate. In the event that the conference is cancelled by the University of Houston, registrants are notified immediately, and all program fees will be refunded.

In the event a participant needs to cancel registration, the following Participant Registration Cancellation Policy will apply:

Registration cancellations will be accepted until noon on the Monday prior to the conference start date.
Paid fees will be refunded, less a $25 processing fee.
No refunds or transfers to future programs will be issued for cancellations received after the deadline.
Cancellation requests must be submitted in writing. To cancel, contact the CE Department at optce@central.uh.edu.

COVID-19 Special Circumstances: If you exhibit any symptoms of COVID-19, have tested positive or been diagnosed with COVID-19, or have knowingly been exposed to someone who has or is suspected/presumed to have COVID-19 after the cancellation deadline, do not attend the conference. Contact the CE Department in writing at optce@central.uh.edu to qualify for a refund. Paid fees will be refunded, less a $25 processing fee.

Notice: Any participant exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms while in attendance at the conference will be asked to leave the meeting immediately and will forfeit all registration fees.

CE Credit Information

Synchronous In-Person Conference Attendance

Participants receive a name badge during check-in that contains a bar code to be scanned for attendance credit.

Name badge bar codes are unique to each participant and should not be shared.
To earn CE credit, every participant must scan their name badge bar code at the designated scanning stations.
To obtain credit, you must attend the entire lecture. Partial hours will not be awarded.
Late arrivals and/or early departures will be notated and credit will only be issued for time spent in class.
Attendance will be monitored to comply with COPE, Texas Optometry Board, and Florida Optometry Board regulations.

Synchronous Virtual Webinar Conference Attendance

Synchronous Virtual Conferences are hosted via Zoom Webinar. Registered participants receive a unique link to the session(s) they've registered for. The platform logs each participant's join and exit time; therefore, it is important to use the unique link you were provided in order to receive credit. Viewing parties are not permitted and email address may not be shared by multiple participants. The following applies to all webinar participation:

CE credit will only be awarded to registered participants.
To obtain credit, a participant must attend the entire COPE lecture. Partial hours will not be awarded, and attendance will be monitored to comply with COPE and Texas Optometry Board regulations.
During designated break times, you must remain logged into the Zoom session if you wish to receive credit for the courses following the breaks.
All agenda times are listed in Central Standard Time (CST).

Notification of Hours

Verification of continuing education hours are reported directly to COPE, and to CE Broker for Texas, Florida and South Carolina licensees. Letters of completion are emailed to participants within 15 business days after the course presentation date. Out-of-state licensed participants are responsible for notifying their state board of the continuing education hours earned at a UHCO program.

COPE

The University of Houston College of Optometry is a COPE Administrator. Courses are submitted for COPE accreditation when the format meets COPE criteria. As a COPE Administrator, UHCO CE is required to report COPE qualified CE hours to the ARBO OE Tracker System. COPE does not allow partial hour credit. Attendees must be present for the entire COPE course in order to receive credit.

CEE Credit

Continuing Education with Examination Credit (CEE) is available for select UHCO CE conferences. Please refer to conference agendas for lectures identified for CEE credit.

Semester Breaks

During each semester break, the university conducts electrical and server maintenance; therefore, UHCO cannot guarantee that the online CE system will be available during the break and that submissions will be received and processed.

We recommend that participants complete their coursework on or before December 15th to ensure access to our online system before the calendar year ends.

Photo Notification

Photos may be taken during University of Houston College of Optometry Continuing Education events. Such photos will be retained for UHCO use and may be included in informational and/or marketing materials.