Case Study with Hagerstown Community College
Jennifer Suminski, MS, RDH, Dental Hygiene Program Associate Professor and Program Coordinator
From Hardwired Systems to Cloud-Based Simplicity:
How Hagerstown Community College Streamlined Dental Hygiene Education with Ascend Academic
Hagerstown Community College (HCC) offers a Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA)–accredited Dental Hygiene Program recognized by the Maryland State Board of Dental Examiners. The program emphasizes hands‑on learning, individualized student support, and clinical readiness through its on‑campus dental education clinic.
As the program grew, HCC began looking for a modern solution to better support student evaluations, grading consistency, and clinical documentation—while also reducing operational complexity for faculty and IT.
The Situation
Before implementing Ascend Academic, the Dental Hygiene Program relied on multiple software systems to manage clinical charts and student evaluations. Grading formulas were difficult to calculate, performance data was grouped instead of individualized, and access was limited to hardwired clinic workstations.
Jennifer Suminski, MS, RDH, Associate Professor and Program Coordinator for the Dental Hygiene Program, explained:
“We wanted the ability to be able to grade outside of the clinic in something we could easily pull up in our offices while still protecting patient privacy, but able to grade certain things, look at notes, look at files and charts, and we weren’t able to do that prior with using one of our other software. It was hardwired. It was only in the clinic”
The Breaking Point
Several challenges prompted the program to seek change:
- Grading formulas were inconsistent and difficult to interpret
- Student performance was evaluated collectively instead of individually
- Faculty access was limited to specific clinic workstations
- Multiple vendors were required to manage charts and evaluations
The Turning Point
HCC sought an all‑in‑one, cloud‑based platform that could unify patient management and student assessment while remaining easy to use and secure.
As Suminski shared:
“We wanted something where the charts and the grading could basically be all in one.””
Implementation with Ascend Academic
To support the transition to a cloud‑based platform, the program upgraded its clinic internet infrastructure. Faculty, adjunct instructors, and IT staff collaborated closely during go‑live.
Ascend Academic handled all data and image migration from the previous system, preserving historical patient records.
As Suminski noted:
“[Your team] was able to transition all of the charts and data we had in [the previous software] over to Ascend. We didn’t lose any notes, any data, perio exams, anything like that for patients that have been coming to the clinic since we’ve been open. That was really important and it didn’t take very long to migrate all of that over. It was a quick turnaround. It was very seamless, good and very easy. We can easily go back into the charts and see previous notes that were in [our other software].”
1. Needs Assessment
- Hagerstown Community College evaluated solutions with IT and program leadership to improve accessibility, simplify workflows, and consolidate patient management and student evaluation into a single platform.
2. Deployment
- Ascend Academic migrated patient charts, images, and historical data from the previous system while supporting the transition to a cloud-based environment.
3. Training
- Faculty, adjunct instructors, and students received training that enabled the program to successfully adopt clinical, charting, and evaluation workflows within Ascend Academic.
The Payoff: Centralized Workflows and Enhanced Student Progress
Since adopting Ascend Academic, HCC has seen meaningful improvements in both instruction and operations
“This has been one of the best experiences and best customer service that we had.”
“[Also] not having to do a ton of updates where we had downtime.”
Jennifer Suminski, MS, RDHDental Hygiene Program Associate Professor and Program Coordinator, Hagerstown Community College
Partnering with Ascend Academic Team on Continuous Improvement
Faculty value Ascend Academic’s commitment to continuous improvement through customer feedback.
“Your tech people are so hands on and willing to sit with you as long as you need to understand the process.”
🔍 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
For colleges looking to move towards efficient paperless operations, Hagerstown Community College’s journey offers key insights.
Key Takeaways:
- Consolidate clinical and academic workflows with a single platform.
- Improve faculty access with secure, cloud-based technology.
- Enhance student evaluation, feedback, and progress tracking.
- Simplify accreditation readiness and CODA reporting
- Reduce administrative complexity with centralized data management.
Hear from Jennifer Suminski about her journey with Ascend Academic
“Ascend has been a game-changer for our Dental Hygiene program. It is super easy to learn and navigate and has several features similar to other dental software my students will see when they graduate. Ascend stays up-to-date with the ever-evolving field of dentistry and implements new software enhancements with feedback from real users like me. The customer service and tech support are top notch and Ascend representatives reach out to you frequently to see how they can best support you and keep you up-to-date on new software changes/enhancements. The academic features are great and the easy-to-generate reports to see where your students may need additional instruction or guidance with are helpful and in alignment with clinical deficiency evaluation data required by CODA-accredited institutions.”
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.
