Dr. Nia Woods Haydel has dedicated over 25 years to envisioning, planning, and executing strategic initiatives designed to elevate the student experience through her experience in academic affairs, enrollment management, intercultural relations, and student affairs. She currently serves as Complete College America’s Vice President for Alliance Engagement and Institutional Transformation where she leads strategic efforts to increase college completion rates nationwide with a specific focus on addressing systemic inequities through reforming advocacy, policy, and practice. In 2017, she was selected as Fellow for Complete College America and has served as one of the most in-demand content experts for institutions focused on implementing successful and equitable strategies for college completion

Prior to joining CCA, Dr. Haydel held several roles at Dillard University, most recently serving as the Dean for University College and Director of the Thompson/Cook Honors Program. In this role, Dr. Haydel led the institution’s retention and student success initiatives, oversaw the implementation of the institution’s predictive analytics platform, and redesigned the academic advising model to complement the platform and optimize outcomes.

Previously, Dr. Haydel held several positions at Georgia State University, Oxford of Emory University, and Texas A&M University. In her faculty and administrative role at Georgia State University, she created and launched the acclaimed Panther Retention grant, which has served as a national model for higher education emergency aid programs. Additionally, she developed the initial intercultural relations model to increase cross-cultural understanding and engagement. She earned a Ph.D. in Educational Policy Studies from Georgia State University, an M.S. in Higher Education Administration from Texas A & M University, and a B.S. in Psychology from the University of New Orleans. She resides in New Orleans, LA with her husband, Chase, and their 3 children, Issis, Chase and Noelle.