Nathan A. Schaumleffel, Ph.D., CPRP is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Recreation and Sport Management and project director of the Indiana Rural Recreation Development Project (InRRDP).  Dr. Schaumleffel also serves as Assistant Executive Director of the American Humanics program at Indiana State University. 

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, non-profit management, introduction and current trends and issues in recreation and sport management, leisure theory, and leadership and group dynamics.  He also serves on the ISU-Field Campus Management Team and advises the American Humanics Student Association and Epsilon Tau Pi fraternity. 

He has written and presented in numerous places on leisure service administration in rural communities and small-towns in Illinois and Indiana.  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.  Dr. Schaumleffel recently spoke at the 2006 National Recreation and Park Association’s Leisure Research Symposium on research on staff training and youth development programs in public park and recreation agencies and non-profit youth-serving organizations.  Currently, he is continuing his research on: 1) youth development and program leaders, 2) sustainable rural community development, and 3) the role of campus recreational-sports on academic and social integration.

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 is working with the Clay City-Harrison Township R.E.I.N. Coalition to develop a master plan for parks and recreation, and is hosting training seminars for rural park board members.

Dr. Schaumleffel currently serves as President and CEO of the Recreation Development Network, a non-profit 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 at YMCAs, and in several management roles at multiple day and resident camps.  He also regularly conducts staff training and board training for public and non-profit agencies.

Dr. Schaumleffel’s main interest areas are community recreation, rural recreation development, youth and community development, non-profit management, fiscal management of 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, and Community Development Society.