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Russell Sage College has been named one of the Healthiest Employers in New York’s Capital District.
The Albany Business Review honored 24 workplaces for programming that supports employee wellness. Sage is the only college on the list and one of 10 employers recognized in the “100-499 employees” category.
Sage’s new thrive@Russell Sage initiative helped it stand out as a healthy employer.
This initiative infuses health and wellness across the curriculum; faculty, staff and students; and the community at large.
Thrive@Russell Sage has identified five goals, including Thrive-branded courses and events, individual wellness, thrive across the curriculum, sustainability and welcoming diverse community.
Since launching in early 2020, thrive has:
— hosted a webinar on mass vaccination from ethical, epidemiological, infectious disease and policy perspectives with more than 500 views;
— collaborated on curricular initiatives for undergraduate and graduate programs;
— joined the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education and formed a working group to assist with sustainability issues on campus;
— and collaborated with Human Resources to offer incentives to employees for wellness-related activities.
During spring 2021, Ellen Cole, Ph.D., professor of psychology and Kathleen Kelly, Ph.D., MPH, MS, FNP, dean of the School of Health Sciences and co-chair of thrive, mentored four graduate students from the University of Pennsylvania’s Master’s in Applied Positive Psychology program. In May, the students submitted a research paper to the University of Pennsylvania’s Scholarly Commons, entitled Russell Sage College: The Journey Towards Thriving and presented their recommendations for growing the thrive program to the Penn and Sage communities.
Thrive-related initiatives and activities planned for fall include a new outdoor fitness trail and exercise center on Sage’s Albany campus. Sage students will participate in Fresh Check Day, an uplifting mental health fair, at the start of the fall semester and Martin E. P. Seligman, Ph.D., bestselling author of Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-being will speak on campus on Oct. 4. Seligman is the founder of the Center for Positive Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania.