Center for Research, Regional Education and Outreach receives $286,899 federal grant

The Center for Research, Regional Education and Outreach (CRREO) at the State University of New York at New Paltz has been awarded a $286,899 grant by the U.S. Department of Education.

Directed by Gerald Benjamin, associate vice president for regional engagement, the Center serves as the principal locus of the college’s efforts to raise its level of engagement within communities, government and businesses across the Hudson Valley.

Benjamin said that the Congressionally-directed grant, secured by Senators Charles Schumer and Hillary Rodham Clinton, will be used to develop measures of Hudson Valley communities’ social, economic and environmental character that are broadly accepted and allow the tracking of change over time.  

“This is a great early initiative for CRREO and a project that could be of central importance for the future of the Hudson Valley,” said Benjamin. “I am grateful for Senator Schumer’s support, and look forward to engaging community leaders with CRREO in this effort.”

Teaching materials will also be developed on the environmental/developmental nexus for use in college courses, and other materials will be prepared for distribution to local
government decision makers – county executives, county legislators, mayors, city councils, town and village board members.

Publication of these measures by the Center will continue as a regular project of the center, Benjamin added.

For more information about the Center, visit www.newpaltz.edu/crreo.