Backhaus: “… families can have
a sustainable career …”
KINGSTON – Kristin Backhaus doesn’t mind driving 400,000 miles up and down the New York State Thruway, to get to work at SUNY New Paltz from her lifelong hometown of Saugerties. That number is her estimated odometer reading during a 30-year career at the college.
“I’m waiting for them to name the exit after me,” Backhaus joked Wednesday in Kingston, where she delivered the keynote address at the Ulster County Economic Development breakfast.
Decades of perseverance and tenure paid off last April, when Backhaus
was appointed dean of the SUNY New Paltz School of Business. More importantly,
she says, is the beautiful scenery motorists can enjoy while commuting
across Ulster County.
“What I want to make the example of, is that Ulster County really is a place where families can have a sustainable career, make a life, and have something they can look back over the course of all those years, and be happy that they were here – that they didn’t have to move away and look for work somewhere else; there was opportunity,” Backhaus explained.
As dean of the only business school in Ulster County, and the only public one in the Hudson Valley, Backhaus tries to foster education in a way that can change the future for the region. She calls this approach Study Here, Stay Here.
SUNY New Paltz has won numerous national accolades, while remaining one of the most affordable higher learning institutions on the East Coast. “It’s the real deal, what we’re doing really is a good value for our students,” Backhaus maintained.
“SUNY is an integral part of our community,” agreed Suzanne Holt, director of the Ulster County Office of Economic Development, which hosted the event. “They’re educating our future workforce, hopefully also to stay here in Ulster County, to work for our businesses, and open new businesses. This morning, I think a lot of business and community leaders who were in the room got to hear about ways that their businesses can benefit, through internships, educational, and partnership opportunities, by the programs that SUNY New Paltz offers.”
