Admissions
Jeff Nix
Once Jeff Nix decided to pursue advanced degrees in recreation, the School of HPER was “the obvious choice.”
“In terms of programs that molded the field of recreation services into what it is today, there is IU’s Recreation, Park, and Tourism Studies department—and then there’s everyone else,” said the Ph.D. student in leisure behavior. “Many of the most influential and historical figures in my field are from right here at IU, everyone from Tony Mobley to Jim Peterson to Ted Deppe to Bert Brantley and so many more, all the way back to Garrett Eppley. Just to be at the department whose foundation was built by those icons made it an obvious choice.”
As associate instructor for the Eppley Institute for Parks and Public Lands, Nix acts as assistant director for the Great Lakes Park Training Institute, a 60-year-old conference for park professionals that is co-sponsored by the Department of Recreation and Park Administration. Nix organizes and plans the institute, as well as taking 10 undergraduate students to the conference each year, where they help run the event as part of a practicum.
Nix hopes to secure a tenure-track, assistant professor position in the recreation department of a Midwestern university. Wherever he ends up, he plans to return to HPER for frequent visits. “The relationships I’ve made with many of my professors and co-workers are ones that I will keep the rest of my life,” he said. “This program has made me aware of what it takes to succeed in higher education. I’ve learned a lot about how to properly conduct research, and what students expect from their professor. What I’ve learned here at HPER will help me the rest of my life and enable me to reach the goals I’ve set for myself.”
