Curtis Powell

Welcome back! I hope that all of you had an enjoyable summer. It is with great pleasure that we welcome the Class of 2014 and new faculty and staff to the Rensselaer family. We are delighted to have them here, knowing that their talents and ideas will add much to the vitality of Rensselaer.

As we begin the new semester, let me share with you an important change that was announced last year. In November 2009, Rensselaer announced that the Institute would become a smoke-free campus effective July 1, 2010. Following the announcement, as efforts to launch the initiative continued, the Institute expanded its plans and is now a tobacco-free campus. Today, Rensselaer joins more than 360 U.S. colleges and universities that have pursued similar initiatives.

In launching this initiative, we hope to encourage the Rensselaer community to embrace a campuswide spirit of health and wellness.

We believe that expanding this initiative from a smoke-free to a tobacco-free campus allows the Institute to provide public health policy leadership, while supporting a culture that reflects a genuine respect for all members of the campus community, visitors, the environment, and institutional sustainability and wellness initiatives. In launching this initiative, we hope to encourage the Rensselaer community to embrace a campuswide spirit of health and wellness.

Each of you plays a significant role in making the launch of this initiative possible. It will be important for all members of the Rensselaer community to support one another during this change. During the summer, in partnership with Seton Health Center and Hartford Hospital, free smoking cessation classes were offered to faculty, staff, students, and family members.

This fall, in partnership with the Capital District Physicians Health Plan and Samaritan Hospital, smoking cessation classes will again be available for faculty, staff, students, and family members. For more information regarding the tobacco-free initiative, visit www.rpi.edu/about/tobacco/index.html.

As vice president for human resources, I plan to provide all of you with regular updates from the Division of Human Resources. It is our goal to keep employees informed regarding key HR initiatives, and news that may be of interest.

I look forward to another successful year with the help and diligence of each of you.

Curtis Powell, SPHR
Vice President for Human Resources.