Donna Sheperis, PhD. joined PAU in 2016 and currently serves as an Associate Professor, Associate Chair for Clinical Training, Chair of the PAU Faculty Senate, and Co-Chair of the PAU Institutional Review Board. Dr. Sheperis is a board certified tele-mental health therapist. She earned her Ph.D. in Counselor Education from the University of Mississippi and her masters in Counseling from Delta State University. Donna has taught for land based and online programs since 2000. She is a Licensed Professional Counselor in Mississippi and Texas; a Board Certified Counselor; a Board Certified Clinical Mental Health Counselor; and an Approved Clinical Supervisor with 30 years of experience in clinical mental health counseling settings. 

Dr. Donna Sheperis is active in the counseling profession. She is past-president of the Association for Assessment and Research in Counseling and on the Ethics Appeals Committee for the American Counseling Association. Previously, Donna served as chair of the ACA Ethics Committee. She also serves on the Ethics and Bylaws committees for the Association for Humanistic Counseling and the Western Association for Counselor Education and Supervision. She is active in scholarship and research as well with multiple articles in peer reviewed journals. In addition, she has authored multiple book chapters and textbooks including Clinical Mental Health Counseling: Fundamentals of Applied Practice for Pearson Publishing; Ethical Decision Making for the 21st Century Counselor for SAGE Publishing; and Foundations of Substance Use and Addiction Counseling: Principles and Applied Practice for Cognella Publishing (in press).