Dr. Michael Dillard Promoted to Associate Teaching Professor at Rutgers SPAA
Dr. Michael Dillard (MPA'10) has been promoted to associate teaching professor in the School of Public Affairs and Administration (SPAA) at Rutgers University–Newark. He joined SPAA as a full-time faculty member in Fall 2019 after actively serving and teaching for Rutgers SPAA since he earned his MPA from the school in 2010. At SPAA, he has been dedicated to the success of the school's BA program, serving as its director and regularly engaging with undergraduate students.
At SPAA, he has led extensive recruitment initiatives for the undergraduate program, including organizing on-campus tabling events for RU-N students to learn about the school's major, minors, and second concentration offerings. He also played a role in leading and organizing BA recruitment calling campaigns that coordinated SPAA faculty, staff, current students, and BA alumni for reaching out to and engaging with admitted students. He also organized various community engagement activities and experiences that helped bridge the classroom experience with practice in public service, such as designing the Mayors Speaker Series, which gave students the opportunity to explore roles as future public leaders.
His research interests center around non-traditional students, particularly which services and programs are being created that enable them to thrive. He received his EdD in Higher Education Administration from Rowan University in 2017. In 2024, he received SPAA's Sharon Stroye Community Engagement Award for his outstanding contributions to the community through time, actions, talents, and dedication.
Previously, Dr. Dillard served as the director of the Rutgers RU Ready (RUR) for Work Program, where under his leadership the program created a pipeline of students with 100% high school graduation and college acceptance rates, with about 60% of those students pursuing degrees at Rutgers-Newark. He also was the program director for RU-N's Office of University Community Partnerships (OUCP).