Office of Academic Affairs

Laura Davis, associate professor of communication, joined HACC in 2005 as an adjunct and was hired full-time in fall 2008. She received her bachelor’s in Broadcast from the Pennsylvania State University and a master’s in Communications Studies from Shippensburg University. She worked in radio and public television before spending seven years in non-profit public relations and fundraising. She began teaching in 2001 including helping to establish the public relations track at DeSales University.

Laura recently completed a sabbatical to evaluate and research HACC’s public speaking course and its equivalent courses in Pennsylvania to determine if the current course content and outcomes are meeting the needs of today’s college student. Laura’s sabbatical researched practices in communication in PA community colleges and PASSHE institutions. She presented her findings to her colleagues, as Laura states:

I completed a presentation of my initial findings at the Pennsylvania Communication Association conference in October at Penn State Berks and had a second presentation accepted at the Eastern Communication Association Conference in Baltimore in April. I am grateful to HACC for this opportunity to have this productive time that resulted in what I hope will be applicable results.

Laura is leading HACC’s efforts to transform our public speaking courses to a digital world, with a curriculum that reflects how “21^st century students communicate using a variety of online tools and that learning to present oneself effectively on these platforms is crucial to academic and workforce success.” She will also be working with her colleagues to incorporate critical skills of communication, collaboration, critical thinking and creativity into our courses. As Laura notes, “Our role is to ensure their education is relevant and engaging while giving them opportunity to learn the knowledge and skills required to succeed in their life’s pursuits.”

Laura lives in Lebanon with her husband, two teenagers, and Golden Retriever mix. She loves to travel, watch the news and UCONN Women’s basketball.

Karen Ponti, Professor of Dental Hygiene, joined HACC in 1999 as an adjunct clinical instructor and was hired full-time in 2001. Karen received her Dental Hygiene Certificate from the University of Pennsylvania, School of Dental Hygiene in 1978, her Bachelors of Science degree in Dental Health Education from New York University in 1980, and her Masters degree in Education from The Pennsylvania State University in 2004. Karen also holds her Pennsylvania Dental Hygiene Local Anesthesia Permit, her Public Health Dental Hygiene Practitioner Certificate, and is a trainer in both CPR-Basic Life Support and Child Abuse Recognition and Reporting.

Karen has held many roles and taught a variety of classes within HACC’s dental hygiene program. She currently teaches Techniques in Pain Control, Radiology, Dental Materials, and works in the dental clinic and in community rotation sites supervising students as they provide services to patients. With the changes to the clinical and lab coursework due to the pandemic, Karen has remained flexible and committed to our students, even completing lab requirements on several weekend dates. Karen states:

Working in the on-campus environment now has its challenges. One of the things I appreciate is the hands-on time with my students and really having the opportunity to get to know them as individuals. Although we are only on campus a couple days out of the week, I have worked hard to incorporate as many interactive opportunities as I can into our remote class sessions until we can meet again in person.

Karen has been supporting our dental hygiene students for 20+ years and has been an employee devoted to innovative practice and the improvement of our program and college community. Karen has served in both Academic and Operations Houses, has been the Secretary and Treasurer for the Chi Zeta chapter of the Sigma Phi Alpha Dental Hygiene Honor Society, assisted in countless community service events within the dental hygiene program, and continues to participate in the Penn State College of Medicine Interprofessional Education program, leading our students to a better way of being a practitioner.

Karen lives in New Cumberland and is the mother of three children. Outside of work she enjoys participating in a variety of activities within her church and is currently completing some training activities with her new puppy.