Join us in congratulating OU’s newest Faculty-in-Residence (FIR) Family—Gibbs College of Architecture’s own academic advisor Mr. Dave Kyncl and his wife, Dr. Rhonda Kyncl! They are serving as FIR for Headington Hall.
If you don’t know much about the FIR program, it was modeled after Yale’s program and established at OU in 1997 to ensure students living on campus had a faculty family presence under the same roof. Finding a sense of belonging, overcoming homesickness and adjusting to the academic demands of OU are only a few of the struggles that our freshman students face each year. The FIR role serves residents in tackling these and much more through programming and intentional efforts to build meaningful relationships on campus.
The Kyncls have long served students at OU through hospitality. They moved to Norman in 1999 to serve as campus ministers for a local non-profit and their home was the ministry center. They served in that role until 2016. Additionally, they have regularly hosted programs and meals in their home with various student groups. The Kyncls have also taught on campus in First-Year Programs and First-Year Composition, as well as facilitating conversations through academic life coaching.
Dave serves as the academic advisor for Construction Science and Environmental Design students at Gibbs College. He also coordinates undergraduate recruiting for the College and is a certified associate academic life coach. Dave enjoys the personal connection he develops with students as he helps them navigate their OU experience. He graduated from the University of Kansas with a bachelor’s degree in Journalism and from Pittsburg State University in Kansas with an M.A. in Communication.
Dave’s wife, Ronda received both her M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Oklahoma in the Department of English. She also has an M.S. degree in Technology and Business from Pittsburg State University. She currently serves as the Associate Dean for Students in the College of Arts & Sciences, where she oversees the college’s Withrow Leadership Scholars program, directs outreach to prospective students, coordinates study abroad programs, and works with the team of academic advisors while also serving as an academic life coach and teaching in the Department of English.
They have two children: Mary, who graduated from OU with a degree in Elementary Education and now teaches in Tulsa, and Jonathan, who will be a sophomore in the Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication this fall.
If you see the Kyncls around campus, be sure to say hi!