Who We Are

Our History

The Office of Faculty Advancement, Retention, and Excellence was founded in 2024 after many years of effort and dreaming on the part of a team of faculty and administrators to have an entity on campus dedicated to the mission of faculty support and success. Led by Industrial Engineering Professor Jan Twomey, the team successfully applied for two National Science Foundation grants to support the professional development of faculty at Wichita State University. The second grant in 2024 provided the support needed to formally launch the FARE Office, with the strong support of then-Provost Shirley Lefever.

The FARE Office space in Jardine 112 opened in November 2024, and FARE's first full-time staff member, Dr. Debby Hinsdale, was hired in January 2025. Since then, FARE has been steadily adding programming to support the success and career satisfaction of faculty at WSU, in partnership with other units on campus.

FARE Founders

Dr. Shirley Lefever, former Provost
Dr. Jennifer Friend, Dean of College of Applied Studies
Dr. Linnea GlenMaye, Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs
Dr. Brent Mai, Dean of University Libraries
John Jones, Executive Director of Media Resources Center
FARE Leadership Team (see members below)

FARE Staff

Debby Adams Hinsdale, Ph.D.

Faculty Development Coordinator

Dr. Hinsdale holds a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Kansas and an M.A. in Teaching English for Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) from the University of Texas at Arlington.With over 15 years of experience in adult education, Dr. Hinsdale has worked primarily in grant-funded programs and in higher education. Her doctoral research focused on belonging, a theme rooted in her experience as a first-generation college graduate, her work with immigrant/refugee populations, and three years spent teaching at universities in Southeast Asia. Dr. Hinsdale's interest in faculty development began as a graduate student fellow at the University of Kansas Center for Teaching Excellence, where she supported faculty in redesigning courses to align with research on how adult learning works.

FARE Faculty Leadership

The work of the FARE Office is only possible because of the investment of a large team of faculty who give their time in service to their peers. We are an office by WSU faculty and for WSU faculty. Here are a few of the people who make our programming possible.