by Kenna Dieffenwierth, Staff Writer
In 1978, Hatfield was employed as a clerk in the Campus Bookstore. Her starting pay was $2.65 per hour. This was also the year of the first test-tube baby, the prototype of Sony’s first Walkman, and the first online forum.
Karen Hatfield has worked at the University for 36 years as of June 1. She currently works in the Registrar office, but has held different jobs and positions at the University over the years and has always been very involved on campus.
Hatfield came to Florida with her husband from Maryland, and began seeking a fulltime job. She found the University through Florida Job Service and a friend who was a current employee.
Hatfield worked in the Campus Bookstore until 1980, when she became an Accounts Payable Clerk.
In 1982, she was promoted to Purchasing Agent/Accounts Payable Manager. Hatfield’s department was the fist to have a fax machine on campus. Not including the computer center, Hatfield had the first personal computers on campus.
She organized the Saint Leo College Auction and Flea market for two consecutive years.
“Everyone was involved from the Sisters in the Priory to the Brothers in the Abbey and students doing valet parking and car washes. We raised money for the library that was going through renovation,” said Hatfield.
The themed Employee Recognition Dinner Dances were a source of fond memories for her.
“We transformed the old McDonald Center. It was a lot of fun. I remember me and my husband won the twist dance contest during the Fifties Hop.”
Hatfield also enjoyed the Spring festivals on campus.
“I loved our Spring festivals with a different theme each year, such as the Irish Festival where I came dressed as a Leprechaun and the Old South Festival where I came dressed as a Southern Belle, held on the lawn between St. Edward Hall and St. Francis Hall.”
She also oversaw the upgrading of the campus telephone system along with the instillation of new phone lines.
“I was in some dark, scary places with the engineers determining how to lay the lines such as under the church.”
She was very involved with the National Association of Education Buyers and hosted a conference on campus as the regional president.
In 1986, she joined the Strategic Planning Committee and continues to serve on it to this day.
She was the first employee offered tuition remission for the MBA program. In 1996, she was asked to take over University Registrar once she completed her MBA.
When the Center for Online Learning in Tampa was being established, Hatfield helped get it up and running. Every term, she teaches Principles of Management online.
When the University purchased a Document Imaging System, the Registrar Office converted hundreds of thousands of documents to digital images. This process allowed for the elimination of over 70 file cabinets.
She has had to build systems and processes as the University and its records have changed. The Registrar Office under Hatfield has implemented programs that provide many online services through eLion that allow for things like online registration, faculty grade input, grade changes, transcript orders, transfer evaluation reports and access for advisors to their Advisees’ records.
Hatfield is a point of contact for external military partners. She also led the KRA with implementing the new GI bill.
Currently, she sits on multiple Senate committees and also has served as chair of several groups. She was a member of the first group to complete Leadership Saint Leo.
The University has changed quite a bit since she first started working here in 1978. She has been through four SACS reaccreditations and has worked about 30 Commencements. The last 17 years, she served as Commencement Committee chair.
“The University has grown so much in so many ways from the number of students, to where and how we serve those students, our technology and of course our campus has transformed.”
