Growing up

Kelli Hatin discovered her passion for teaching while working in corporate training for Stewart’s.

“I knew then that I wanted to dive deeper in to education,” said Hatin, whose 25th anniversary of working at the college is really just a portion of amount of time she has been close to the college. “I am a graduate of Adirondack Community College and my father was a longtime professor of business, so I grew up with the college.”

While working at the convenience store chain, she saw a job listing for someone to teach travel and tourism. “That was right up my alley,” she said. “This opportunity would take everything I loved about the industries I loved, my college education, my experiences, my love for Adirondack Community College, marketing, hospitality, my community, and roll it all together.”

In the two and a half decades since, she has witnessed changes in the industry, the college and her students. “The degree program has changed several times over the years, based on the needs of the market,” she said. “When I was hired, I was primarily teaching students to become travel agents.”

While SUNY Adirondack has fewer students than when Hatin’s classes were standing-room only, she is grateful they are from a more diverse background. “We are all better for this,” she said.