Division of Finance and Administration
Week of November 7 - Teamwork: Recipe for Success
With over of 4,000 people eating on campus daily and over a third of those people eating in the Palms Dining Center, Kae Sinkule, director of dining services, has a full plate.
Sinkule's responsibilities include overseeing all operations for Palms Dining Center, The Loop, the University Food Court, the Oasis, and Food For Thought in the Odum Library. Planning menus and attending to facility concerns all fall in Sinkule's lap. She manages a staff of 115 student and 100 full-time employees.
"I believe in management by walking around," Sinkule said. "I try to visit each location and touch base with my staff and students."
Previously, Sinkule worked as the general manager for the Wooden Nickel Pub restaurant in Valdosta. Then, she decided to become a part of the "glorious and gorgeous campus."
"Working with people of college age, particularly in the business setting, always interested me," Sinkule said.
Cameron Nesbitt, student worker, Charles Holsendolph,
assistant manager of the evening shift, and Kae Sinkule,
director of dining services, discuss the daily agenda in
the Palms Dining Center.
Palms Dining Center alone processes an average of 2,000 pounds of food daily, excluding soft drinks and water. Each morning, the Palms Dining Center staff bakes biscuits, cakes, doughnuts, dinner rolls and more.
"We do a lot of things from scratch," Sinkule said. "It's not just opening a can."
Though the entire staff of dining services may not see each another every day, the staff still maintains teamwork.
"We are absolutely a team," Sinkule said. "Our goal regardless what unit we are in is about student satisfaction."
Sinkule even refers to the line servers and the cashiers at the Palms Dining Center as the "hospitality representatives" on campus.
"Getting to intermingle with the students keeps me young," Faye Cook, line server, said. On Nov. 17, the Palms Dining Center will serve its Thanksgiving dinner, bringing together staff and students. Good food and decorations all fit into Sinkule's plan for this year's dinner.
"It's [the Thanksgiving dinner] is so much fun to plan," Sinkule said. "People stop in and thank us for it."
Through her years working in the food service industry, Sinkule believes that the recipe of life is working in service. She believes that when you are willing to go help and provide a service that is meaningful to someone's life, you can't help but prosper from your effort.
Feature story and pictures by Heather Harris, Communications Arts student intern