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Owens Dental Hygiene Instructor Buchanan Receives National Faculty Award

Nicole Buchanan

Owens Community College Dental Hygiene Instructor Nicole Buchanan has been recognized by the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) as a 2024 Dale P. Parnell Distinguished Faculty recipient.

Awarded to select faculty who make a difference in community college classrooms across the country, this highly competitive national designation honors faculty active in their students’ lives and in their colleges’ activities to ensure student success.

A total of 36 faculty received the national honor named for former AACC President and CEO Dale P. Parnell. Buchanan is the fourth Owens faculty member to receive the AACC accolade, joining Sara Burke, Jen Hazel and Sarah Long.

A 2013 Owens graduate from the dental hygiene program, Buchanan was hired as an Owens adjunct faculty member in 2014 and progressed to dental assisting coordinator 2018. She was hired as a full-time instructor in dental assisting 2021 before moving to her current position this academic year.

“Professor Buchanan has shown herself to be an outstanding faculty member who believes deeply in service to her students,” Owens President Dr. Dione D. Somerville said. “Her passion embodies several values that drive our work each day including being transformational, empowering and intentional.

“Professor Buchanan recognizes that challenges to learning differ for each student and tailors her instruction accordingly,” she added. “Specifically, she takes steps to understand her students’ individual needs and implements a strategy that places students in the strongest position to succeed. By starting with concern and proactive support, she witnessed student engagement and overall performance levels rise.”

In addition to the Parnell Award, Buchanan received the Owens School of Nursing and Health Professions Teaching Excellence Award after the 2022-2023 academic year.

“I love teaching at the college that gave me my career,” Buchanan said. “I love working with students and find it deeply rewarding. I am lucky to be doing what I am passionate about.”

Besides her position at Owens, the Elmore resident works for dental practices in Perrysburg and Toledo. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Bowling Green State University (2014) and master’s in public health from the Northwest Ohio Consortium for Public Health (2018).