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Biographical Info

Bill McDonald became Dean of Students at the University of Georgia on January 1, 2011. In this role, he is known as a strong student advocate who meets with student groups and individual students on a daily basis.

McDonald oversees five departments, including the Disability Resource Center, Student Care and Outreach, Student Veterans Resource Center, Tate Student Center (including UGA’s Freedom of Expression Policy and the Center for Student Activities and Involvement, which administers approximately 800 student organizations), and University Testing Services. Additional responsibilities include advising the Student Government Association and serving as the Chair of the Behavioral Assessment and Response Council, the designated Sexual Assault Appeals Hearing Officer, and the Student Affairs Divisional Liaison to the Campus Ministry Association. McDonald also maintains Graduate Faculty status in the College of Education.

McDonald has 38 years of experience at colleges and universities throughout the southeast. He has held elected and appointed leadership positions within the American College Personnel Association, the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators and the Southern Association of College Student Affairs. Author of dozens of publications in higher education journals with a focus on model partnerships between academic and student affairs, assessing student perceptions of community, building campus community, diversity and inclusivity, and ethical decision making.

Active in community service, McDonald currently serves as a member of the National Campus Advisory Committee for the College Diabetes Network and as a member of the Advisory Board for Branch Banking and Trust Company. He is also a Clark County Community Mentor. Prior activities include serving as the Vice Chair of the Athens Light the Night Walk for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Chair of the Board of Directors for the Northeast Georgia Chapter of the American Red Cross, and participating and graduating from LEAD Athens and the Georgia Academy for Economic Development.

McDonald received an Ed.D. from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, an M.A. from Appalachian State University and a B.A. from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.