RALEIGH — The North Carolina Community College System has a new executive director of communications: Nathan Hardin, former director of marketing and communications at Durham Technical Community College (DTCC). Hardin joined the system on Nov. 14.

He is responsible for marketing, brand awareness, and targeted messaging. He will also serve as the communications lead strategist for the 58 North Carolina community colleges.

Hardin is a former newspaper reporter at the Salisbury Post and Fayetteville Observer before leading Durham Technical Community College’s marketing and communications department for six years. While at DTCC, he spearheaded a redesign of the college’s website and managed communications for the Forge Great Futures fundraising campaign.

“The North Carolina Community College System is the workforce engine of the state’s economy. Creating heightened visibility only helps strengthen economic partnerships and student access. Adding Nathan Hardin to the team brings a proven track record to this role, after having already been extremely effective at the college level. Nathan is certainly prepared for the challenge of mission consciousness and chronicling the community college impact,” said William S. Carver, interim president of the N.C. Community College System, in a news release.

At DTCC, Hardin’s department won a dozen recognition awards for outstanding work, including two national prizes from the National Council on Marketing and Public Relations for fundraising communications and video production.