Roberto Zarate, Immediate Past Chair, ACCT (left), Timothy W. Hardy, LCTCS Chairman (middle),
J. Noah Brown, President & CEO, ACCT (right) Baton Rouge, LA - Timothy W. Hardy was elected as a Director At-Large to the Association of Community College Trustees' (ACCT) Board of Directors.  Hardy, chairman of the Louisiana Community and Technical College System (LCTCS) Board of Supervisors, was elected on Oct. 7, by the ACCT Senate to serve a three-year term. The election took place during the 2016 ACCT Leadership Congress that was held in New Orleans. "I am humbled and honored to be elected to this position by my peers," said Hardy.  "As trustees, we have an enormous responsibility to govern, advocate, set policies, and ensure that student success is at the forefront of everything we do, and I take this responsibility very seriously."  He added, "Our work is critical to the future success of two-year colleges and quite frankly the future of our great state and nation." The ACCT is a non-profit educational organization of governing boards, representing more than 6,500 elected and appointed trustees who govern over 1,200 community, technical, and junior colleges in the United States and beyond. "Growing up in a middle-class neighborhood in Shreveport, Louisiana, education has always been an important part of my life," said Hardy. "While I was blessed to grow up in a two-parent home where faith, discipline, and education were priorities, many of my friends and kids across Louisiana did not have the same experience. That is why I have dedicated a good portion of my adult life to advocating for opportunity and access to equitable education and workforce training opportunities for those who need it most." Since being appointed to the LCTCS Board of Supervisors in 2010, Hardy has devoted his time and efforts to the success of Louisiana's community and technical colleges. Having served on the LCTCS Board as first and second vice chair and now chairman, Hardy and his LCTCS board colleagues have implemented policy changes that have led to record increases in graduates and transfers to four-year universities, helped pass legislation for statewide state-of-the-art workforce training facilities, approved an aggressive six-year public agenda to grow Louisiana's workforce and improve the lives of students, and managed difficult budget circumstances. Hardy is a practicing attorney and partner in the Roedel, Parsons, Koch, Blache, Balhoff & McCollister Law Firm in Baton Rouge. He is a member of the firm's management committee and heads its environmental law practice group, representing clients in regulatory, litigation and transactional matters. He holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Chemistry and a Juris Doctor Degree from the Southern University School of Law. Hardy will serve as director-at-large on the ACCT Board of Directors through October 2019.