Dr. Natalie J. Harder was named chancellor at South Louisiana Community College in 2012.

She is responsible for all operational, academic, student services, advancement, and workforce development aspects of the college and its 13,000+ students served annually. The college includes campuses in the nine parishes of South Louisiana and has a $28 million budget. During Dr. Harder’s first year, she oversaw the merger of SLCC and Acadiana Technical College, making this new comprehensive community college one of the fastest growing in Louisiana.

Through her leadership, she has made educational attainment a priority. The college campuses that have historically only offered technical programs began offering associate degrees. This makes it easier for residents to earn a degree close to where they live and work. In addition, many of the college’s technical programs were revamped and shorten to get well-prepared graduates into the workforce quicker. Her spirit of collaboration brought together the chief officers from the region’s largest hospital systems, who contributed financially to establishing the college’s Registered Nursing program. Additionally, this partnership established three endowed professorships in Registered Nursing.

She has been named a 2013 Darden College of Education Fellow at Old Dominion University and is a board member for Louisiana’s Community and Technical College System Foundation. She also has been named to the Board of Trustees for the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC). In her role, she helped determine Commission policy, reviewed and made decisions regarding the accreditation of institutions, and served as a liaison between membership and Commission staff. In addition, Dr. Harder was elected to the American Association of Community College (AACC) Board of Directors in July 2015.

She and her husband, Cian Robinson, have two sons, Tucker and Rory.