Healthcare Certification Industry Veteran Joins Ascend Learning

STILWELL, Kan. -- (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Ascend Learning, a leading provider of technology-based educational solutions for healthcare and other vocational industries, announced Ronald E. “Ron” Hanchar, MBA, has been named executive director of allied health certification programs for the National Healthcareer Association (NHA) and the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM).

Under Hanchar’s leadership, Ascend’s fast-growing allied health certification business unit will further its mission to provide industry-leading, high-quality certification examination programs to help ensure practitioner competency in the allied health and sports medicine professions. NHA has helped more than 200,000 individuals become certified in allied health professions through 10 certification programs. For more than 20 years, NASM has employed its vast knowledge and scientific research findings in the health and fitness industry to develop innovative certification, education and training programs and tools.

“We’re very pleased to have someone of Ron’s caliber leading our allied health certification programs,” said Dawn Clayton, vice president of research and development, Ascend Learning. “His experience, reputation in the industry and his professional skills will greatly strengthen our organization and complement the talents of our current leadership team.”

A seasoned leader, Hanchar brings nearly 35 years of certification and healthcare-related experience to oversee Ascend’s certification programs. He will ensure the certifications continue to meet or exceed their respective industry standards and work towards continued program improvement as these professions evolve.

Hanchar joins Ascend from Computer Sciences Corporation where he had been working on moving the Department of Defense’s (DoD’s) Cyber Forensic certificate of achievement programs over to certification programs that would meet American National Standards Institute (ANSI) accreditation and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 17024 Standard.

Previously, he served as director of certification for the American Nurses Credentialing Center, the Project Management Institute, and the American Health Information Management Association. He also served as director of competency assessment and support programs for the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy. Hanchar currently serves as the 2012 chair of the Certification Network Group (CNG) Steering Committee. The CNG is a volunteer group and the country’s leading networking organization dedicated to promoting leadership within the certification industry.

Hanchar received bachelor’s degrees in History and Management from Calumet College of St. Joseph in Indiana, and a master’s in Business Administration from Purdue University.

About Ascend Learning

Ascend Learning is a leading provider of technology-based educational, curriculum and assessment solutions for healthcare and other vocational industries, and specializes in delivering higher-performance results for students and professionals. Ascend’s heritage is rooted in assessment and remediation technology and publishing, with industry-leading products that serve secondary, post-secondary and professional education markets in nursing, allied health, emergency services, fitness and many other health-science professions. Ascend’s family of companies consists of ATI Nursing Education, Jones & Bartlett Learning, ATI Allied Health, Advanced Informatics, National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM), National Healthcareer Association (NHA), Boston Reed, ClickSafety and ExamFX. With approximately 1,000 employees, the company shares dual headquarters in the Boston and Kansas City metropolitan areas. For more information, visit www.ascendlearning.com.