Meet…
Kates Brommeland is the Coordinator of Student Engagement at Sinclair. Since college, Brommeland knew she was a people person, and had a desire to work with them. Responsible for the operational sides of clubs, the student government and various clubs here, along with coordinating and facilitating campus-wide events, like Sinclair Talks, Brommeland found her very own slice of life in a dream job come true. Though she started in 2007, her journey to get where she is now was no easy task.
Why she’s interesting…
While Brommeland was a junior in college, she was a chemistry major, but began to realize that wasn’t her lifelong passion. After doing an assessment of her decisions and seeking advice from the college advisors, she realized that she was drawn toward people and sought a degree in Cultural Anthropology. Eventually, she finally earned her Master’s degree in Student Affairs and Higher Education at Ball State University.
“When you find your niche, you just know,” Brommeland said.
While at Ball State, she recalled visiting Sinclair and she said fell in love with the campus and thought to herself, “One day, I’ll work there.”
“I was taking steps and didn’t realize I was in a pathway,”Brommeland said.
Though Brommeland is often busy in her office, she finds that it is a “good busy” — there is an amount of administrative paperwork that needs to be done, but Brommeland looks forward to interacting with the students. What attracted her to student affairs the most was the knowledge that she was helping students get to where they want to be, while being an active participant in their lives.
“It is very, very, very cool,” Brommeland said.
In years past, she won the Innovation of the Year Award in 2010 for her accomplishments in aiding pre-college students to pass the Ohio Graduation Test. She also won the Honorary Young Scholars Award in 2014 for her dedication and determination. One goal that she does have for herself is to obtain a Doctorate degree. Brommeland has a life-long learning philosophy.
“I want to continue to grow and just improve. The future is endless possibilities,” Brommeland said.
She also seeks out opportunities in her community to help out when she can. Outside of work, she continues to dedicate her time and effort taking in rescue pets into her home, including five dogs, two cats, and one chinchilla.
Brommeland recognizes the effort it takes into making a team, and she said she definitely doesn’t feel alone in the office. Along with the people in her office, she also considers others outside of the office to be great confidantes, including Matt Massie, who is the Manager of Student and Community Engagement here at Sinclair, and Michael Carter, Sinclair’s Senior Vice President and Mike Brigner, the Dayton Project Manager for Completion by Design.
“You grow and develop, you find your mentors and team members… I recommend to any young professional or someone who is getting started is to make sure that you have a team of people,” Brommeland said.
Ariel Parker
Reporter