Sarah MacDonald: Associate Dean

Associate Dean, School of Professional & Continuing Education

I came to SPCE (then Outreach & Engagement) in July of 2007; prior to that I worked for the Graduate College and the Writing Center at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. I have a master's degree in Writing & Rhetoric, and a master's in Adult and Human Resource Education, both from the University of Illinois. I also earned a Ph.D. in Assessment & Measurement from JMU, with a dissertation that focused on part-time graduate students and their sense of belonging to the university. Here at SPCE, I oversee our Academic and Professional Programs (Bachelor of Individualized Study, Professional Development, and academic partnerships to support programs across JMU). I love what we do because learning never stops. Our world is changing rapidly, and requires us all to continuously learn new skills, ideas, and strategies - and providing access to programs that do that for people who once thought that higher education wasn't for them is deeply powerful and fulfilling.