SPAA BA Student and SGA President Dylan Terpstra Looks to a Career as a Public Administrator

Dylan Terpstra started his academic journey at Rutgers University–Newark as an athlete on the track team. This semester, having served as the president of the Student Governing Association (SGA) at RU-N, he will complete his undergraduate double major in political science and public administration.

Terpstra gained early exposure to public work by interning with Congressman Donald Payne Jr. and he has worked on numerous political campaigns, including as a political director of town council races for three candidates. He is also currently serving as the campaign manager for a state assembly campaign. 

These experiences with the public and political arenas have made him even more certain that he wants to continue his professional journey toward being a public administrator. “I like political science because it helps me connect the history to politics, and with the public administration degree, I see how SPAA is providing me the gears that grind the mechanisms of public service through executive actions,” he said.

Terpstra feels that serving as the SGA president and working with multiple people has been a rewarding experience. “The work with SGA has mostly been about supporting other schools and clubs in carrying out activities across the campus,” he said. “However, as the SGA president, I also served on President Holloway’s Student Advisory Board and Chancellor Cantor’s Advisory Board, thus providing me with an opportunity to make sure that students’ voices were heard and their needs met.”

Terpstra will be continuing his studies at SPAA as part of the accelerated BA/Master of Public Administration (MPA) program, but already feels he has benefited from being at the school. “SPAA solidified my personal goals to be a public administrator,” said Terpstra. “The courses focused on government organizations and provided great insights in creating a political compass to chart different political beliefs across leaders.”