Nestled between Chick-Fil-A and UPS are UNF’s on-campus eye professionals. College Optical Express opened its doors in the summer of 2016 and has served the UNF community and beyond ever since. Spinnaker sat down with Carla Gilman and Jared Allen of College Optical to find out what services students can partake in.

According to Allen, College Optical offers everything an optometrist would provide, including eye, contact lens and glaucoma exams. College Optical also makes glasses in its on-sight lab.

“Usually, [glasses] take a couple days to a couple weeks to make,” Allen said. “We do it in a day or two.”

College Optical also offers repairs and adjustments, free of charge. According to Gilman and Allen, the major insurance plans accepted by College Optical are Vision Service Plan, Aetna, iMED, Humana, Vision Care Plan and Spectera Inc. Allen says they are able to work with most smaller plans, as well.

“Even if they’re out of network, we try to help them file the insurance,” he explained.

Gilman says that, while College Optical does not take TRICARE, users of this plan can receive a 10 percent discount.

As it turns out, you don’t have to be a student or staff member to be a patient of College Optical.

“Everyone gets the discounts that we offer for students, faculty and staff,” Gilman said.

In addition to receiving the same deals as a student or staff member, patients outside of the UNF community can also get $2 parking on campus during their appointment.

Gilman and Allen said that they see about 30 patients a week during the fall and spring semesters. Appointments can be made at collegeoptical.com or even through a private message on the College Optical of UNF Facebook, Instagram or Twitter page.

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