Reid Johnson has been named director of the Center for the Study of Aging and Active Retirement (CSAAR), a Coastal Carolina University educational and public service project.

Rocky Cartisano, an active retiree with more than 30 years of business management expertise, is assistant director of the center. .

An interdisciplinary effort among all four of Coastal's colleges and the Division of Continuing Studies, the Center will provide campus-wide academic program support functions, explore faculty and student research projects related to aging and active retirement, and offer opportunities for professional development in gerontology and related fields..

"The Center is designed to increase both the quantity and quality of Coastal's synergistic relations with one of this area's fastest growing, most important, and underserved populations, the more than 50,000 older adults and retirees living on the Grand Strand," said Reid. One of the Center's objectives is to conduct fact-finding studies to determine what academic courses and services are currently being provided to older adults and retirees; the higher education needs and interests of older adults; how well those needs and interests are being served by the university and other community businesses, agencies, and organizations; and the most effective ways to improve cooperative interactions among all these different groups. .

Johnson is a program development and evaluation expert with more than 31years experience in South Carolina educational institutions, including 23 years as a professor of psychology at Winthrop University and two years as institutional effectiveness director at Francis Marion. He will also serve as a visiting professor of psychology in Coastal's Department of Psychology and Sociology and will teach one course each semester. .

Partnering collaborations will also be developed between the university and community organizations to establish a CSAAR Resource Center and Information Clearinghouse, including a "Scam Watch" service to help forewarn and protect older adults and retirees from unethical and illegal ruses that prey disproportionately on senior-aged populations..

For more information, call University Hall at 349-4115 or 349-4116, or e-mail Johnson at rjohnso1@coastal.edu or CSAAR@coastal.edu .