Overview

Debbie Willsie, LSCSW, ACSW, is an adjunct professor and the liaison to the other adjunct professors in the School of Social Work. Ms. Willsie most recently was an Associate Clinical Professor and the Director of Field Education for the Wichita State School of Social Work from 2013 until her retirement in 2020.  

Ms. Willsie received her BA in Social Work from Wichita State University in 1980 and her MSW from Syracuse University in 1981. Ms. Willsie began her career as a clinical social worker at Horizons Mental Health Center in Hutchinson, Kansas, and after two years accepted a supervisory position at Kansas Social and Rehabilitation Services (now the Kansas Department for Children and Families) where she worked in various supervisory and management positions for 37 years.  

Ms. Willsie teaches Practicum Seminar classes to undergraduate and graduate students, and her main areas of interest are applied learning and workplace processes. She holds professional affiliation with the State of Kansas Behavioral Sciences Regulatory Board as a Licensed Specialist Clinical Social Worker (LSCSW) and with NASW’s Academy of Certified Social Workers (ACSW). She serves the community as a member of both the Sedgwick County Advisory Council on Aging and Physical Disabilities and the KCSL Healthy Families Advisory Council.

Information

Academic Interests and Expertise

Social Work Practicum, Job Fit, and Workplace Processes

Child Welfare

Areas of Teaching Interest

Undergraduate Practicum

Graduate Practicum

Publications

Willsie, Deborah A. and Jeffrey W. Riemer. "The Campus Bar as a 'Bastard Institution,'" Mid-American Review of Sociology, Vol. V, No 2 (Winter 1980):  61-89.

Professional Experience

Adjunct Professor and Adjunct Liaison, WSU School of Social Work, 2021-present 

Director of Field Practicum and Associate Clinical Professor, WSU, 2013-2020 (retired) 

Public Service Executive/Assistant Regional Director/Manager/Supervisor, Kansas Department for Children and Families, 1983-2013 

Adjunct Professor, WSU School of Social Work, 1994-1995 

Clinical Social Worker, Horizons Mental Health Center, 1981-1983

Awards and Honors

Licensed Specialist Clinical Social Worker, State of Kansas BSRB, 1983 - present

Academy of Certified Social Workers, National Association of Social Workers, 1983 – present

Phi Alpha Honor Society, WSU Beta Delta Chapter

Areas of Service

Department Liaison for Adjunct Faculty, WSU School of Social Work

Member, WSU School of Social Work Student Concerns Committee

Member, Sedgwick County Advisory Council on Aging and Physical Disabilities

Member, KCSL Healthy Families Advisory Council

Board Member, Friends of the Library, Park City Public Library