Students & Alumni

Mentoring Program (Sponsored by the Capital District Chapter of NYSOTA)

The Capital District Chapter of NYSOTA sponsors a mentoring program where students connect with an OT professional outside of the educational environment. Mentors can be a great asset as students explore their future career paths and opportunities. The program is designed so that students will have a caring professional to talk with about skill development, OT practice "in the real world", or keeping the long-term goal of graduation and a new career in sight. Many of the mentors are recent graduates. Mentors connect with their mentees at least once per month through e-mail, phone call, or personal meetings. Students and their mentors determine the framework for a relationship that will work for them both. For more information, contact the Student Occupational Therapy Association faculty representative.

Sage Student Occupational Therapy Association

All students are encouraged to join and support the Student Occupational Therapy Association. This student-run group hosts and sponsors educational and community service activities, social events and continuing education workshops. Through the activities of this organization, students begin to experience the benefits and satisfaction gained from working alongside other students and therapists in activities promoting the occupational therapy profession and Sage. Program faculty serve as the group’s advisors. Students elect officers including student representatives to the American Occupational Therapy Association and New York State OT Association. These representatives may be supported financially ito attend association annual conferences.

Lobby Day in Albany

Each year in March, occupational therapy practitioners and students gather from across the state to make their voices heard to legislators in Albany. Occupational therapists lobby to support key issues impacting the profession and the clients we serve. To prepare, students and therapists are briefed on key issues and talking points by Jeffrey Tomlinson, the Legislative and Government Relations Coordinator for NYSOTA. Among the issues covered last year were amendments to current legislation such as mandating continuing competency, revising the current definition of occupational therapy to include consultation and wellness services, specifying OT service delivery without physician prescription for non-medical situations, and the requirement for occupational therapy assistants to pass a licensing exam in order to be licensed to practice. Students from Sage attended en masse and felt lobby day was a great learning experience that brought about a sense of strength and unity within the profession of occupational therapy.

Student Reflections on Lobby Day:

Daisy Stephen, Class of 2004

"Lobby Day provides occupational therapy professionals with an opportunity to voice their position concerning various legislative issues in hopes of persuading government officials in order to gain their support. As a student, participating in Lobby Day showed yet another facet of the multidimensional world of occupational therapy. The hands-on experience of Lobby Day enabled occupational therapy students to play the necessary and crucial role of the lobbyist."

Leslie Bennett, Class of 2004

"It was great to see all of the occupational therapists and students who turned out to help advocate for our profession. This was a good educational experience. Today, I can honestly say that I fully believe that this is an important part of our profession, and that we need to encourage more professionals to begin to advocate so that our profession can grow and change."