Community college transfer agreement offers dental hygiene graduates new ECU degree option

When Ashleigh Tolin became a hygienist in the East Carolina University School of Dental Medicine last year, she was confident in the training she received at Coastal Carolina Community College.

Now, Tolin and others following her career path have a new option for higher education — and being part of the solution to North Carolina’s dental hygienist shortage.

ECU now offers a new transfer agreement that enables graduates of dental hygiene associate degree programs (AAS) from any North Carolina community college to seamlessly continue their education through ECU’s Bachelor of Science in university studies (BS-US).

The degree is designed to expand career opportunities for dental hygiene professionals beyond clinical practice. By completing the AAS in dental hygiene and transferring into ECU’s university studies Bachelor of Science degree, graduates can prepare for a range of professional advancement options, including teaching positions in dental hygiene programs within the North Carolina Community College System or graduate-level education in related fields.

“Future students of dental hygiene programs need to know that they don’t have to start over if they want to pursue higher education,” Tolin said. “This degree will allow hygienists to expand their knowledge in a field that they are interested in and prepare themselves for positions as educators, office managers, sales representatives and even research roles.”

ECU dental hygienist Ashleigh Tolin talks with a patient about her oral health during an appointment in Ross Hall. (Photo by Ben Abel)

The new transfer agreement is ECU’s way of doing what it does best — identifying a complex challenge in eastern North Carolina and across the state and setting out to create solutions. The program is the result of a collaboration between ECU’s Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences, where the program is housed, and the School of Dental Medicine, where Dr. Warren Gabarée, assistant dean of clinical affairs and clinical assistant professor, lent his expertise in dental hygiene education to the project.

Gabarée and a team including ECU hygienist Jennifer Robertson shared their vision with the director of university studies, Dr. Amy Shannon, who created a framework for the transfer agreement.

“What’s so significant about this is that up to 75 credits from the AAS can be transferred over to the Bachelor of Science in university studies, including the technical courses,” Gabarée said. “We’re trying to change the situation, the difficulty in recruiting hygienists by making this pathway attractive — and help alleviate the crisis across the state as far as faculty for our community college system’s dental hygiene and dental assisting programs.”

In addition, under the transfer agreement, dental hygienists employed at ECU’s School of Dental Medicine are eligible for tuition assistance to support their enrollment in this transfer program, which is designed to encourage professional development and educational advancement within the university system.

“This initiative strengthens transfer pathways, enhances recruitment and retention of School of Dental Medicine employees, and expands affordable degree-completion opportunities,” said Dr. Allison Danell, dean of the Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences. “Most importantly, it addresses urgent workforce needs by producing more qualified dental hygienists and ensuring a pipeline of bachelor’s-prepared instructors who can sustain and grow dental hygiene education programs across the state. I am extremely thankful for the partnership with the dental school and very proud of all involved.”

The initiative also reflects ECU’s mission of service and improving quality of life for people across the region and state.

“This pathway addresses a critical health care challenge across eastern North Carolina and the state,” said Dr. Greg Chadwick, dean of the dental school. “In collaboration with Harriot College, our faculty and staff have developed an innovative response to the shortage of hygienists and dental hygiene educators. We are proud to be a part of advancing solutions that improve oral health care for the people of North Carolina.”

A Vital Part of Oral Health Care

 Rachel Stewart and her colleagues in the ECU School of Dental Medicine have a clear picture of the need for hygienists — and their access to higher education and career potential. Stewart, a registered dental hygienist and case manager of the dental school’s School-Based Oral Health Prevention Programs in Bertie and Jones counties, also serves as president of the North Carolina Dental Hygienists’ Association (NCDHA).

“The shortage of dental hygienists in North Carolina is a complex issue that reflects broader national workforce challenges,” she said. “Currently, the state has approximately 9,000 registered dental hygienists, a figure that falls short of meeting the preventive oral health needs of North Carolina’s 11 million residents. This gap is further compounded by the fact that many hygienists are reducing their hours or leaving the profession altogether, limiting access to essential preventive care.”

Public Health Dental Hygienist Rachel Stewart performs an x-ray on Hunter Brown at Trenton Elementary. (ECU Photo by Rhett Butler)

Stewart said the way forward is expanding the scope of practice for hygienists and empowering hygienists to take on greater responsibilities — key points that ECU’s partnership could help address.

“I am thrilled to see the partnership between East Carolina University and the community college system take shape. This initiative creates a clear pathway for North Carolina-educated hygienists to advance their careers, and our entire NCDHA board is strongly supportive of this effort,” she said. “This new transfer agreement has the potential to be highly appealing to a wide range of professionals — whether they are recent graduates, currently practicing hygienists, or registered dental hygienists seeking to re-enter the workforce. By offering opportunities for career advancement, the transfer agreement not only strengthens the pipeline of talent entering the profession but also helps retain experienced hygienists who are vital to patient care.”

From the educational perspective, the new program aims to fill an essential gap in dental hygiene educators as well.

“This new initiative reflects ECU’s continued commitment to workforce development and lifelong learning across North Carolina,” Shannon said. “We’re proud to offer a pathway that not only supports professional growth for dental hygienists but also strengthens the state’s health care education system.”

Gabarée said the program brings about a commitment across campus from disciplines that used their strengths and resources to produce results.

“As we looked at how we might support these dental hygiene programs in the community college system, one of the areas that came up is degree completion, so we thought about what we could do to promote and actually facilitate a pathway to degree completion,” he said.

With the help of Harriot College and the university studies program, the dental school has leveraged its mission of service, education and patient care to provide what Gabarée calls a win-win for hygienists and the school, as more of them may choose to work for the school’s clinics as they earn their degrees.

“One of my missions in life is to champion dental assisting and dental hygiene as professions and professionals. As dentists, we treat disease, and that demands a lot of our time,” he said, “but dental hygienists promote oral health and champion the connections between oral and systemic health. They help dentists work more efficiently and effectively, and they facilitate treatment.”

A Commitment to Their Calling

North Carolina’s hygienist community is a close-knit group of professionals; their paths cross periodically because of their common bond to serve. Tolin studied under Gabarée at Coastal Carolina Community College. She received her license to practice dental hygiene in 2025 and accepted a hygienist position at the ECU School of Dental Medicine last summer.

“Dr. Gabarée ran the dental programs while I was there until he came here to ECU about halfway through my hygiene program,” she said. “He was my head and neck anatomy instructor for both programs as well.”

Tolin switched gears on her educational journey during the COVID-19 pandemic, leading her to her local community college, Coastal Carolina, to pursue dental assisting and then dental hygiene.

After becoming immersed in the community and clinical care at the dental school, she can see herself becoming an educator through the new program.

“Furthering the education of all dental hygienists is so very important to broaden our knowledge and to eventually expand our scope of practice. I want to teach in a hygiene program one day and there is no greater opportunity than the one I have been presented with here at ECU,” Tolin said.

Hygienists, she added, play a vital role in the entire oral health care process, which contributes to overall health.Robertson, in addition to being a registered hygienist, is the dental school’s dental radiology technologist specialist. She, too, learned under Gabarée’s leadership.

“I’ve been in the dental profession for over 20 years, and much of my dental career has

been shaped by the community college environment where I started,” she said.

“I started working there as a dental educator in 2004, which gave me the unique experience of teaching in the very programs that shaped me.”

Robertson said Gabarée’s unique perspective lent to the vision for the pathway program.

“From the beginning, it was clear that Dr. Gabarée wasn’t just a colleague. He is a natural

leader who is a visionary and a ‘blue-sky’ thinker,” she said. “He became a mentor to me early on, and under his leadership I saw firsthand what it looks like to advocate for both the profession and the people in it.”

Both Robertson and Gabarée arrived at ECU in 2024, bringing their dedication to dental hygiene to the bigger picture of oral health care. Robertson’s experience in the profession over the years allows her to see the value of the new program.

“I know what it feels like to want to advance but not see a clear path forward. That lived experience helps me communicate the value of this new degree,” she said. “I understand the students we’re trying to serve because I was one of them. I know the workforce needs because I’ve spent years on the ground. And I’ve had the privilege of working alongside leaders like Dr. Gabarée who model the kind of forward-thinking solutions this degree represents.”

Robertson said the flexibility of the program for working professionals is the key to realistically addressing the state’s shortage of oral health care professionals.

“Right now, we’re seeing shortages across the board: not enough dental assistants, not

enough hygienists and not enough qualified faculty to train the next generation,” she said. “By allowing dental assistants and hygienists to continue practicing, we’re strengthening the

workforce in real time. We’re not only supporting the workforce today but helping build the one we’ll rely on tomorrow. To me, that’s the real power of this degree.”

Lacey L. Gray contributed to this article.

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