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From Paper Trails to Progress:

How Pima Community College Transformed Dental Education with Ascend Academic

Surrounded by exceptional facilities and dedicated faculty, graduates at the Pima Community College’s Dental Hygiene and Dental Assisting programs in Arizona are provided the skills and knowledge needed to succeed in today’s healthcare field.

However, behind the scenes, Pima Community College was facing multiple barriers due to their on-premises software and paper evaluations. Faculty members were unable to complete their evaluations after hours, student paper evaluations could be misplaced, and student feedback was constrained.

“Our current grading system just wasn’t in-depth enough to be able to provide valuable feedback,” said Ms. Holly Houck, RDH, BS, MSDH, DISIPC, Dental Hygiene Program Director, Pima Community College when asked about the current challenges in student evaluations.

As Ms. Houck shares, Pima Community College found it challenging to deliver the level of detailed, actionable feedback they are aiming for to support student learning.

Looking to streamline operations and improve their student feedback, Pima Community College sought out a modern and comprehensive cloud-based solution.

The Breaking Point

The situation was reaching a tipping point as challenges with accessing the system began to halt Pima Community College’s goals.

Accessibility limitations were making the jobs of faculty at Pima Community College more difficult than necessary. Evaluating students outside of clinic hours wasn’t an option with an on-premises software, but even inside the clinic, the struggle continued as faculty had to compete for access due to a limited number of available computers.

The on-premises software and incompatible IT infrastructure led to:

  • Limited feedback to students
  • Inflexible software for faculty to access at home
  • Long paper trail of evaluations, prone to being misplaced
  • Inconsistent reporting and tracking

Ms. Houck had long been looking to lead Pima Community College into the next chapter of modern and efficient dental clinics for patients and students.

“One of my goals from starting at the college was to get our clinic as paperless as possible,” she recalls.

So, Pima Community College made the bold move — they convinced their IT team to transition to the cloud, abandoning the limitations of their on-premises systems for a flexible, scalable operation.

The Turning Point: Embracing Ascend Academic

After evaluating multiple cloud solutions, Ascend Academic stood out as the frontrunner for its comprehensiveness – not only as a patient management solution – but also for meeting Pima Community College’s expectations for student tracking and evaluations.

“It was cloud-based patient management. We can access it from home and complete the assessments all in one place, which makes it easier to track student requirements,” said Holly.

Ascend Academic Provided:

  • Accessibility – with secure cloud-based access on any device.
  • Centralized system – by unifying clinical and academic workflows.
  • Tracking capability – with real-time data tracking.
  • Integrated tools - for EHR, imaging, charting, student grading and treatment planning.
  • Comprehensive reporting – for recording student progress and competencies.
  • Improved student learning – with sessional forms to share detailed feedback.

What Ascend Academic was offering was a solution for Pima Community College to take a large leap towards a more efficient, paperless operation.

The Climb: Implementation with Intention

1. Needs Assessment

  • Collaborated with faculty, IT, and administrators to define goals and match fit.

2. Deployment

  • Aside from procurement of cloud infrastructure, Ascend Academic’s technical teams focused on collaborating with necessary internal stakeholders to get things off the ground.

3. Training

  • Received positive feedback from students and prioritized a flexible learning schedule to accommodate training 30 adjunct faculty that work part-time and four full-time faculty at the time.

The Payoff: Measurable Results and Long-Term Benefits

Pima Community College’s dental programs have seen transformative results.

“Faculty like the ease of being able to access the program to complete evaluations from home when they run out of time to provide feedback during a clinic session.”

“Now, I can create sessional forms [and] I can then show a student what level their knowledge base is on a particular competency and we can communicate.”

Holly Houck, RDH, BS, MSDH, DISIPCDental Hygiene Program Director, Pima Community College

🔍 Accreditation Prep Simplified

Detailed tracking and automated reports make it faster and easier to prepare for CODA accreditation.

Ascend Academic supports compliance with CODA standards by enabling:

  • Competency tracking
  • Patient classification documentation
  • Self-evaluation tools
  • Real-time dashboards
  • Comprehensive reporting

Key Takeaways for Other Institutions

Key Takeaways:

  • Move to cloud-based systems for improved flexibility and accessibility.
  • Streamline workflows to eliminate inefficiencies and reduce admin burden.
  • Enhance feedback processes to better support student success.
  • Ensure accreditation readiness with transparent tracking systems.
  • Choose platforms that grow alongside your institution’s needs.

Ready to Elevate Your College's Education Programs?

Learn how Ascend Academic can help take your institution's student success, accessibility, and operational efficiency to the next level.

Hear from Ms. Houck about her journey with Ascend Academic

“Ascend Academic has been a welcomed addition to our program and clinic management. Adding the computerized assessments has helped tremendously. We don’t have to worry about missing evaluation or having to print out numerous forms. Faculty like the ease of being able to access the program to complete evaluations from home when they run out of time to provide feedback during a clinic session. The patient management side has been easy to navigate for students and faculty. It provides comprehensive data that helps prepare students for what they will encounter out in the Real World. I would recommend this system for programs looking to move to being more paperless and having one program for patient management and student assessment.”