Dental hygiene director named accreditation site visitor

WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. – Shawn A. Kiser, dental hygiene program director at Pennsylvania College of Technology, was appointed to the position of commission site visitor for 2020-21 by the Commission on Dental Accreditation.

Site visitors assist the commission in a number of ways, including developing accreditation standards, serving on special committees and serving as site visitors to predoctoral, advanced dental and allied dental education programs. Site visitors are fact-finders, who report their findings to the commission, which then decides on a program’s accreditation status. Kiser’s term begins in October.

Kiser was named director of the college’s dental hygiene program in 2005, after serving as the college’s coordinator of dental hygiene. He previously worked as a registered dental hygienist for the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, for the University of Maryland Dental School and in private practice.

A member of the American Dental Education Association and the Commission on Dental Competency Assessments, he holds associate and bachelor’s degrees from Penn College and a Master of Education from Penn State. He earned a graduate certificate in distance education and is a graduate of the American Dental Education Association Allied Dental Leadership Program.

The Commission on Dental Accreditation is nationally recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as the sole agency to accredit dental and dental-related education programs conducted at the postsecondary level. CODA's mission is to serve the oral health care needs of the public through the development and administration of standards that foster continuous quality improvement of dental and dental-related educational programs.

Penn College offers an associate degree in dental hygiene and is one of two higher education institutions in Pennsylvania that offer a bachelor’s degree in dental hygiene. Registered dental hygienists, who already hold an associate degree, can complete their bachelor’s degree coursework online. To learn more, call 570-327-4519 or visit www.pct.edu/dental.

For information about Penn College, a national leader in applied technology education, visit www.pct.edu, email admissions@pct.edu or call toll-free 800-367-9222.