August 18, 2025

Coffee Break and Solutions the Newsletter for students return to a weekly delivery schedule next week. Please send your news for both publications to newsletter@sage.edu by the end of the day, Wednesday, August 20.

Move-In Day Volunteers Needed on Saturday, August 23, from 9 a.m.- noon, on both campuses. Sign up to help on Move-In Day!

What's New

Strong Through Every Mile Couch-to-5K-Program:

Learn More at August 29 Info Session

Strong Through Every Mile (STEM), a nonprofit organization that empowers survivors of interpersonal violence/abuse and DV through the sport of running, will again offer its free couch-to-5K program to students and employees at Russell Sage. Runners of all genders and abilities who identify as the people STEM serves are welcome.

Participants receive:

• The 10-week couch-to-5K training, which will be held three late afternoons a week on the Albany and Troy campuses beginning September 8 and culminating in a 5K in November. Trained volunteer coaches will encourage runners through the program, which gradually moves participants from walking to running at their own pace. More details about training times and days will be provided at the info session. You do not need to be available all three days a week to participate.
• Free running shoes for first-time participants with a personalized shopping experience at Fleet Feet sports after three weeks of program participation.
• Physical therapy advice on stretching and injury prevention.
• Free entry for the goal 5K.
• A STEM t-shirt and finishers medal.

An info session will be held Friday, August 29, at noon via Zoom. Be sure to register to access the Zoom link. If you can't make the Zoom session but would like more information, please email Jenn Gish at gishj@sage.edu. 

This program is sponsored by Thrive@ Russell Sage, the Denise Taber Finard '80 Women's Institute, and the Title IX Office.

Transfer Honor Roll Streak Continues

Phi Theta Kappa, the international honor society for two-year colleges, named Russell Sage to its 2025 Transfer Honor Roll. It is the sixth consecutive year that PTK has recognized Sage!

Read "RSC Named a Top College for Transfer Students" on Sage.edu

Read the press release from PTK

Coffee Hour Returns September 3 –

Get Involved!

The Innovation Committee kicks off the fall 2025 season of Coffee Hour on September 3! (If you are new to Sage, Coffee Hours are relaxed, weekly Zoom gatherings on Wednesdays at 9 a.m., where colleagues share personal and departmental updates.)

The committee is looking for more colleagues to help shape Coffee Hour by attending the committee's meetings, volunteering to host or co-host a Coffee Hour, make slides, or suggest topics. Interested? Fill out this Coffee Hour Volunteer form.

Help Fill a Backpack for Kids at

Joseph's House & Shelter

Education Honor Society Kappa Delta Phi and the Future Educators Club are collaborating to supply unhoused children with school supplies. Supplies needed include pens, pencils, markers, 3-5 subject notebooks, dividers, colored pencils, glue sticks, scissors, highlighters, TI-84 graphing calculators, and more. Please drop donations in the bins located in Buchman Pavilion (Troy) and KCC (Albany) by August 29. 

Athletics Welcomes New Baseball Coach, New Business Manager

The Athletics department welcomes Head Baseball Coach Matt Marsh (left), who joins Russell Sage on August 25 from Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas, and Operations and Business Manager and Assistant Women's Volleyball Coach Cheyenne Young (right), who recently joined Sage from Saint Lawrence University in Canton, New York.

Tech Check from IT

The IT team is ready to support you for a smooth and successful semester. Whether you’re teaching, advising, or keeping things running behind the scenes, IT is here to keep your technology working seamlessly. Here’s to a semester of smooth connections, secure accounts, and reliable technology!

Bookmark These Tech Links for Quick Access

🟢 Need to Reset Your Password?

🟢 Planning to Upgrade Your Phone? Reset Your MFA. **Be sure to complete this while you still have access to your old phone.**

🟢 Download Office 365

🟢 Printing From Your Devices

🟢 Need Help From IT? Enter a Request at sc.sage.edu! 

🟢 Use passport.sage.edu to connect to all IT's online services!

Catch Up on Summer Issues of Sage Guard Newsletter

🔷 May 2025: Passwords 101

🔷 June 2025: Social Media Best Practices

🔷 July 2025: Malware

🔷 August 2025: Generative AI Gives Scammers New Strength

🔷 2025 Sage Guard repository

Top Tech Tips for Faculty and Staff

✅ Log into your RSC account and set up Multi-Factor Authentication ASAP. It’s the best way to protect your account.

✅ Test classroom or office tech equipment before your first class or meeting.

✅ Report tech issues early. The sooner you let IT know, the faster they can fix it.

Contact IT at sc.sage.edu or stop by the Armory (Albany) or Cowee Hall (Troy).

Way to Go!

Sharing the stage as a proud sponsor of Saratoga Performing Arts Center thanks to generous support from Russell Sage Trustee Chet Opalka.

Opalka’s Gina Occhiogrosso Featured in The Cut Up Exhibit

Gina Occhiogrosso, exhibitions and marketing manager at Opalka Gallery, has eight pieces in The Cut Up, an exhibit at Bernay Fine Art in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. The mixed media exhibit runs through September 14.

View The Cut Up online.

Do you have good news to share? Send it to newsletter@sage.edu!

Women's Soccer a 2024-2025 College Team Academic Award Winner 

Russell Sage's women's soccer team was announced as a 2024-2025 College Team Academic Award Winner by the United Soccer Coaches. The Gators posted a team GPA of greater than 3.0 to earn the honor.

Greetings From a Future Gator

Mackenzie Martel, assistant director of undergraduate enrollment management, wanted to share some good news: She and husband, Jarod, assistant men’s volleyball coach, welcomed Jordan Kay Martel last week, and everyone is doing well. For those who like baby stats, she weighed in at 6 pounds 8.8 ounces and is 19 inches long.

Both the new mom and dad are Sage alumni, so we'll be waiting patiently for the next 17 or so years to welcome Jordan as a legacy student.

Wall of Wins: We’re always glad to hear how EVERYONE at Sage supports students and each other, and we’re even gladder to shout about it via the Wall/Google Doc of Wins. Please share your wins or celebrate a colleague!

HR Corner

FROM HR: Tips for Back to School

🍎 Adjust and practice sleep and waking schedules in advance.

🍎 Review class schedules and supply lists.

🍎 Plan and test any transportation routes.

🍎 Talk through first-day jitters.

🍎 Organize a family calendar.

🍎 Book health checkups and update vaccines.

🍎 Label supplies and gear.

🍎 Plan and prep easy lunches together.

🍎 Set up a quiet spot for homework.

🍎 Watch for signs of stress as kids adapt to new challenges.

🍎 Keep it upbeat. Positivity is contagious.

🍎 Download the National Safety Council’s Back to School Safety Checklist (PDF).

Events

Opalka gallery reopens September 1, and beer gardens kick off September 5. See more gallery events.

Looking for something to do? New events are added to The Chomp every day. Check it often to see what is going on!

Have an event to promote? Add it to The Chomp first, then email the details to newsletter@sage.edu.

Thursday, August 21

🟢🔷 Opening Day, Armory, Albany campus

Friday, August 29

👟 STEM Couch-to-5K Info Session, noon. Register to access the Zoom link

Friday, September 5

🍻 Beer Garden, 6-9 p.m., Opalka Gallery, Albany campus

Friday, September 12

🍻 Beer Garden, 6-9 p.m., Opalka Gallery, Albany campus

Wednesday, September 17

🟢🔷 TIAA Representative One-on-One Meetings, 9 a.m.-4 p.m., Cowee 3rd Floor, Troy campus. RSVP for an on campus meeting with TIAA.

Additional TIAA Dates:

• October 23, 9 a.m.-4 p.m., West Hall, Albany campus 
• November 19, 9 a.m.-4 p.m., Cowee 3rd Floor, Troy campus
• December 11, 9 a.m.-4 p.m., Cowee 3rd Floor, Troy campus

Friday, September 19

🍻 Beer Garden, 6-9 p.m., Opalka Gallery, Albany campus

Wednesday, September 24

🟢🔷 Lunch and Learn with CDPHP: Tools to Manage Stress, noon, Bush Memorial, Troy campus.

Reminders

Volunteers Needed

• Intercultural Cafes, from 4 to 5:30 p.m. on Mondays (Spirituality Center, Troy) and Thursdays (West Hall, Albany), are friendly gatherings where English language learners practice conversation with volunteers. Drop in, or email Nana Owusu-ofori (Troy) or Noora Ahmed (Albany) to learn more.

• Please complete the ECAR volunteer interest form if you are available to work with Every Campus A Refuge to help a young woman from Afghanistan get settled and find community in the Albany area.

Find past issues of Coffee Break in the newsletter archive.

Free online fitness classes: Log in at BODi/Beachbody on Demand with

Username: Recreation@sage.edu and Password: Thrive2020

Free CDPHP Cycle! membership: Free daily bike rides with the CDPHP Cycle! app and the promo code RussellSage: www.cdphpcycle.org.

Coffee Hour links: Find Coffee Hour recordings; see the Coffee Hour schedule or sign up to present; or email the Coffee Hour team at innovation@sage.edu.

Moodle help: Find updated Moodle links and important information for 2025-2026 in this PDF. You can also schedule a training session with Sage Online via the Training Request Form. 

For reference:

• Institutional Response to Federal Issues
• RSC and ACPHS Strategic Merger FAQs

One Last Thing

From "Whatever U" to just right: Watch the college's playful "Find Your Fit" video.

Next Issues

Click on the button below to send us an email. Please use the same deadlines and email address to submit announcements to Coffee Break for employees and Solutions: The Newsletter for students.

✅ Please send your news by 5 p.m. August 20 for the August 25 issue.

✅ Please send your news by 5 p.m. August 27 for the September 2 issue (a special Tuesday issue due to the Labor Day holiday.)

✅Please send your news by 5 p.m. September 3 for the September 8 issue.

✅Please send your news by 5 p.m. September 10 for the September 15 issue.

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