Michael Rushton, associate professor in the Indiana University’s School of Public and Environmental Affairs, has assumed the directorship of SPEA’s Master of Public Affairs program.
He takes over from Professor John Mikesell, who directed the graduate degree program for more than eight years. Rushton will continue to manage the arts administration program at SPEA; he holds the title Director of Master’s Programs in Public Affairs and Arts Administration.
Rushton brings to the position a wealth of past administrative experience, a consensus style of management and a passion for strengthening SPEA’s already robust MPA program. An economist, he joined the SPEA faculty in 2006 and became director of the arts administration program in 2008. He will continue as director of that program in addition to the MPA program.
The SPEA MPA program is a two-year, 48-credit-hour program that includes a core curriculum, a concentration area of study, and a required internship or research component. With its applied focus that teaches students to address problems from an interdisciplinary perspective, the program produces graduates who can work well with teams of professionals in a wide variety of fields.
In addition to the Master of Public Affairs and Master of Arts in Arts Administration, SPEA offers a two-year Master of Science in Environmental Science, a combined MPA/MSES degree, and joint degrees that combine a SPEA master’s degree with degrees in law, journalism, library and information science, the sciences, or world languages and cultures.
Professor Henk Haitjema remains director of the Master of Science in Environmental Science and joint degree master’s programs, and also of SPEA’s Ph.D. program in Environmental Science. The MPA program currently enrolls 270 students and offers concentrations in comparative and international affairs, economic development, environmental policy and natural resource management, information systems, nonprofit management, policy analysis, public financial administration, public management and local government management.
Rushton is an expert on cultural economics, policy and administration; nonprofit organizations; and tax policy. His current research involves tax policy as it applies to nonprofit arts organizations. He has Ph.D. and B.A. degrees from the University of British Columbia and an M.A. from the University of Western Ontario. He has held faculty appointments at Georgia State University, the University of Tasmania, St. Francis Xavier University, and the University of Regina, where he served as Dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts.
For more information on SPEA master’s degree programs, see https://spea.indiana.edu/masters/index.html.
