He completed his Ph.D. in Recreation Administration and Youth and
Community Development at the University of Illinois in 2005. Dr.
Schaumleffel completed both his Master’s degree (2001) and Bachelor’s
degree (1998) in Recreation Administration at Southern Illinois
University Carbondale. He has also earned an Associate of Arts (1996)
and an Associate of Sciences (1999) from Belleville (Illinois) Area
College (now Southwestern Illinois College).
Dr. Schaumleffel teaches undergraduate classes in the areas of public
administration of recreation and park systems, management, nonprofit
management, youth and community development, leisure theory, and
leadership and group dynamics. Dr. Schaumleffel is also a regular member
of the graduate faculty at ISU with an endorsement to chair thesis and
dissertation committees. He also supervises internships and serves on
the ISU-Field Campus Management Team, as well as advises the American
Humanics Student Association, Epsilon Tau Pi Eagle Scout fraternity, and
coordinates the Rho Phi Lambda Honorary Professional Recreation, Park,
and Leisure Service Fraternity chapter.
He has written and presented in numerous places on leisure service
administration in rural communities and small-towns in Illinois and
Indiana, as well on topics related to managing youth programs and the
role of program leaders in achieving youth development outcomes. In
April 2006, Dr. Schaumleffel published an article on media relations in Parks and Recreation magazine. Also, he has recently published
articles in the Journal of Park and Recreation Administration on:
1) the role of public park and recreation agencies and professionals in
emergency management capacity-building, and 2) the relationship between
individuals’ attitudes towards public park and recreation services and
an individuals’ level of community satisfaction in rural Illinois
communities. He has also recently published an article in a British
journal, Managing Leisure, on program leaders’ intention to
process recreation experiences to achieve targeted developmental
outcomes and an article on professional student organizations in the
Indiana Association of Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance
Journal.
Dr. Schaumleffel recently spoke at the 2006 and 2007 National
Recreation and Park Association congresses and at the 2006 and 2007
American Camp Association national conferences on research regarding
staff training and youth development programs in public park and
recreation agencies, camps, and nonprofit youth-serving organizations.
Currently, he is continuing his research on: 1) youth development and
program leaders, and 2) sustainable rural community development.
Currently, his major research project underway is the 2007 Emerging
Trends and Issues in American Camps study in collaboration with the
American Camp Association where he will be presenting the findings at
the 2008 International Camping Congress in Quebec, Canada. Dr.
Schaumleffel also recently published a textbook chapter on Senior
Olympics/Senior Games in a new textbook by Dr. Tom Sawyer and Dr.
Kimberly J. Bodey titled: Sport governance and policy development: An
ethical approach to managing sport in the 21st
century.
Dr. Schaumleffel also is founder and serves as Project Director of
the
Indiana Rural Recreation
Development Project (InRRDP). The InRRDP’s mission is, by using an
ecological framework and through a self-help community development
approach, to develop sustainable local park, recreation, leisure, and
tourism services that achieve individual, community, economic, and
environmental benefits in rural Indiana communities through active and
representative civic participation, youth development, collaboration,
and research. He recently published an article on agritourism and rural
economic development in the Indiana Business Review. Currently,
Dr. Schaumleffel recently completed a master plan for parks and
recreation for the Clay City-Harrison Township,
Indiana
R.E.I.N. Coalition, and is hosting training seminars for rural park
board members in the area of developing park foundations to generate
revenue. Nathan also serves as the coordinator for the Small Town
Initiative for the Indiana Park and Recreation Association.
Dr. Schaumleffel recently hosted Indiana State University’s first
Wilderness
Medical Associates - Wilderness First Responder course at the ISU
Field Campus, and will be hosting the 3rd annual American Camp
Association-Indiana Section winter conference on-campus in October 2008.
In February 2008, Dr. Schaumleffel hosted the Central District of the
Indiana Park and Recreation Association at ISU and will be hosting IPRA
again in April 2009. He is also serving on the national
American Camp
Association (ACA) Student Camp Leadership Academy planning
committee, national Media Team, and the ACA-Indiana Section Education
and Scholarship Committees. Dr. Schaumleffel has also established a
controlled practicum site for ISU students through ISU Residence Life
Department at the University Apartments facility to better prepare
students to program recreation activities and to work with youth.
Dr. Schaumleffel is also finalizing the process of having the
Recreation Management and Youth Leadership Concentration accredited by
the
Indiana YouthPRO
Association, which will be the first accredited collegiate
professional youth work program in the State of Indiana. Nathan also
chairs the Indiana Youth Development credentialing committee for the
Indiana YouthPRO Association.
Dr. Schaumleffel founded and currently serves as President and CEO of
the
Recreation
Development Network, a nonprofit consulting and training
organization. He has also served in a variety of other professional
roles that includes: Project Manager of the Illinois Rural Recreation
Development Project, Director of Recreation at the Union County
(Illinois) Housing Authority, Special Facilities Manager for the
Belleville (Illinois) Parks and Recreation Department, Aquatics
Instructor and After School program director at YMCAs, and in several
management roles at multiple day and resident camps (e.g., DuBois
Center, Touch of Nature Environmental Center, Family Housing Recreation,
Philmont Scout Ranch, Camp Joy, Camp Vandeventer). He also regularly
conducts staff training and board training for public and nonprofit
agencies.
In Terre Haute, Indiana, Dr. Schaumleffel serves on the Wabash Valley
District Committee for the Crossroads of America Council of the Boy
Scouts of America, and serves on the Council Aquatics Committee. Dr.
Schaumleffel serves as a lifeguard, CPR, 1st Aid, AED, and Oxygen
Administration instructor for the local chapter of the American Red
Cross. He also volunteers his time with the local Senior Olympics and
state-level Special Olympics competitions. He also occasionally advises
the local Park Board and recently worked to establish a shelter
agreement between the American Red Cross and the Terre Haute Park Board.
Unfortunately, this shelter agreement had to be enacted; so that the
Booker T. Washington Community Center could serve as the Terre Haute
Flood Relief Headquarters for FEMA and the American Red Cross in 2008.
He is also currently forming a Meadow Woods Crossing Neighborhood
Association and working with city planning on trail and greenway
development.
Dr. Schaumleffel’s main interest areas are community recreation,
rural recreation development, youth and community development, nonprofit
management, fiscal management of rural and small-town agencies, camp
management, outdoor recreation, and aquatics. He is a member of the
Indiana Park and Recreation Association, National Recreation and Park
Association, American Camp Association, Community Development Society,
Indiana YouthPRO Association, and National AfterSchool Association.
Dr. Schaumleffel and his wife, Missy, have one child,
Coleman
Nathan
Schaumleffel, Ph.D., CPRP