University Human Resources recognizes that the physical, financial, mental and social well-being of our employees is the very foundation for the success of our university community. This initiative is intended to provide you with tools and resources to support and promote employee wellness and build communities of interest around topics relevant to your needs and interests. This webinar series is one of many ways we will support your well-being and we encourage you all to join us in building a strong and caring virtual employee community. Below is a list of the webinars and links to register.
You can also visit our Financial Carrier Consultations page for information related to scheduling one on one consultations with our financial investment carriers.
Financial Wellness & Retirement Planning:
ABP Retirement Planning Overview:
A presentation with LIVE Q&A for members of the ABP retirement system who are contemplating retirement.
- REGISTER HERE (under 'Employee Benefit & Work-Life Programs')
PERS & PFRS Webinars:
A variety of webinar options for member of PERS and PFRS provided by the New Jersey Division of Pensions & Benefits. Topics include Retirement Planning, PERS Retirement Estimates, Submitting an MBOS Retirement Application and Understanding your Pension Benefits.
Understanding Social Security - Presented by MetLife:
Provides an overview of Social Security and how it works, including eligibility and Primary Insurance Amount, filing options, the importance of timing, and spousal benefits. Also discusses implications of working after beginning to collect benefits and other considerations that can impact filing decisions.
- 10/10/24 at 12:00pm - REGISTER HERE
Deferred Compensation - Presented by Empower (formerly Prudential):
This session will discuss deferred compensation and provide information regarding the opportunity to voluntarily shelter a portion of your wages from federal income taxes while saving for retirement.
- 10/29/24 at 12:00pm - REGISTER HERE
Investing 201 - Presented by Voya:
This seminar moves beyond investment basics to evaluate investments using various portfolio analysis tools and resources. Topics include an in-depth look at asset allocation, including sub asset classes and relative risk and return. Attendees will learn various techniques and best practices that can help them create a sound and appropriate investment strategy for their personal retirement goals.
- 11/5/24 at 12:00pm - REGISTER HERE
Envision and Plan for your Best Retirement - Presented by Voya:
It’s not necessarily about being wealthy, but it is a state of mental well-being in which one feels they have control over their current finances and have confidence in their financial decisions.
- When we ask people what financial wellness means to them, they talk about how it feels
- It’s about understanding your full financial picture and making better choices over time
- Living within your means
- Being prepared for the unexpected
- Achieving a state of financial confidence at every stage of life
- Having the freedom to indulge a little and embrace life
- 11/14/24 at 10:00 am - REGISTER HERE
Retirement Income Strategies- Presented by Corebridge:
Take action to identify your future income needs.
- 11/20/24 at 2:00pm - REGISTER HERE
Fine-tune your retirement strategy: Investing toward a secure future - Presented by TIAA:
Moving beyond investing basics to help fine-tune saving and investing strategies for retirement and build a more secure future.
- 11/26/24 at 12:00pm - REGISTER HERE
Live with confidence in retirement: 5 steps to creating your retirement income plan - Presented by TIAA:
Understanding how to create an income plan that helps maximize savings throughout retirement, including how different sources of income work, how to build your strategy for lifetime income and what to consider when planning withdrawals from retirement assets.
- 12/5/24 at 10:00am - REGISTER HERE
Estate Planning 101 - Presented by MetLife:
Gives a brief overview of what estate planning is, the tools required, and strategies to help guide the journey. Topics addressed include: What is estate planning, tools used in creating an estate planning and simple estate planning strategies
- 12/10/24 at 12:00pm - REGISTER HERE
Market Volatility - Presented by Empower (formerly Prudential):
As part of this webinar, we will:
- define what market volatility is,
- provide a historical view of market volatility,
- offer guidance on how to stick with a plan during turbulent times, and
- explain how to align your investments with a long-term plan.
- 12/11/24 at 10:00am - REGISTER HERE
TIAA Financial Wellness: https://www.tiaa.org/public/land/rutgersfinancialwellness
VOYA Retirement Seminar Library: https://www.voya.com/voyalearn
Previously Recorded Sessions:
Parenting During a Pandemic - How to Keep Your Sanity – hosted by Dr. Maurice Elias
Advice on the best ways to cope with and make the best of the new way of life—and the new stressors caused by the global health crisis.
Dr. Maurice Elias
Dr. Maurice Elias is a Professor of Psychology, Rutgers; Director, Rutgers Social-Emotional and Character Development Lab; Co-Director, Collaborative Center for Community-Based Research and Service; Co-Director, Academy for SEL in Schools.
He is Past President of the Society for Community Research and Action/Division of Community Psychology (27) of APA and has received the SCRA Distinguished Contribution to Practice and Ethnic Minority Mentoring Awards, as well as APA’s National Psychological Consultants to Management Award, the Joseph E. Zins Memorial Senior Scholar Award for Social-Emotional Learning from the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL), the John P. McGovern Medal from the American School Health Association, and the Sanford McDonnell Award for Lifetime Achievement in Character Education.
Dr. Elias lectures nationally and internationally to educators and parents about students’ emotional intelligence, school success, and social-emotional and character development. Dr. Elias writes a blog for the George Lucas Educational Foundation’s Edutopia Website.
Stress & Coping – hosted by Dr. Kristen Riley
In these stressful times during the COVID-19 pandemic and racism pandemic and social movement, coping strategies are important.
Dr. Riley will present about stress and coping during a pandemic, will conduct two relaxation coping exercises (progressive muscle relaxation and deep breathing), and will help participants create SMART goals for coping strategies.
Dr. Kristen Riley
Kristen E. Riley is an Assistant Professor at GSAPP. She received her Ph.D. in clinical psychology with a certificate in health psychology is from the University of Connecticut, and completed a health psychology internship at the Miami VA Medical Center and postdoctoral fellowship in cancer prevention at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC). Her program of research decreases unhealthy behaviors and increases access to care, with a focus on health disparities. Specifically, she studies stigma, rumination, superstition, mindfulness, tobacco, and sleep, and she uses dissemination and implementation science to integrate behavioral medicine into medical settings to improve access to care and get interventions to those who need them most.
Dr. Riley is the chief of the Health Policy Council at the Society for Health Psychology at the American Psychological Association. She promotes integrated care teamwork as a member of the Interprofessional Education Faculty Advisory Council. She is an affiliate member of the Department of Psychology, Center for Alcohol & Substance Use Studies, and the Center for Tobacco Studies at the School of Public Health, is a member of Women’s Health and Psychiatry at RWJBarnabas Health, and is an associate member of the Cancer Institute of New Jersey in Cancer Prevention and Control. She is fluent in Spanish.
Dr. Riley is currently working on several lines of research GSAPP, including:
- LGBTQ+ smoking cessation
- Lung cancer stigma and anti-tobacco public health campaigns
- Integrating psychology into primary care and medical settings
- Spanish speaking insomnia treatment
- Ultra-brief mindfulness interventions
- Maternal mortality and morbidity in Black women
The Growing Challenge of Suicide in America – hosted by Dr. Edward Selby and Dr. Evan Kleiman
Discussing trends in suicidal behavior and personal clinical factors such as suicide risk assessment and self-care.
- VIEW RECORDED SESSION | Password: iDxQpEi6
Dr. Evan Kleiman
Evan Kleiman is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Rutgers University. Prior to coming to Rutgers, Dr. Kleiman was a Postdoctoral Fellow (2014-2017) and Research Associate at Harvard University. He received his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at George Mason University (2014), completed his clinical psychology internship at Temple University (2014), and received his BA in Psychology from Temple University (2008). Dr. Kleiman’s work focuses on understanding the everyday occurrence of factors of interest to clinical psychological scientists. He has a specific focus on the everyday lives of individuals at risk for suicide using smartphone and wearable monitoring technology. His work has been published in over 80 peer-reviewed manuscripts and is currently funded by several NIMH grants. He has been the recipient of several awards for his research and was named a “rising star” in 2020 by the Association for Psychological Science.
Dr. Edward Selby
Dr. Edward Selby specializes in the research and treatment of suicidal and self-injurious behavior, personality disorders, and eating disorders. A major focus of his research on these disorders involves emotion dysregulation and the use of self-sabotaging behaviors, such as binging and purging, self-injury, alcohol and substance use, fighting or reckless driving, to distract from upsetting emotions. Dr. Selby completed his Ph.D. in clinical psychology at The Florida State University in 2011, following completion of his psychology residency at Brown University – Warren Alpert Medical School in 2011. He previously earned his M.S. in clinical psychology from The Florida State University in 2007, and he completed a B.S. in Physiology and Neuroscience and a B.A. in Psychology at the University of Wyoming in 2005. He has published over 30 peer-reviewed research articles and book chapters. He was the recipient of a predoctoral National Research Service Award from the National Institute of Mental Health, and he has received several national awards for his research including the Neil S. Jacobson Award for Outstanding and Innovative Clinical Research from the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies and the American Psychological Association Division 12 Distinguished Student Research Award. In his free time, Dr. Selby enjoys running, learning new languages, and spending time with his family.
Increasing Valued Living During COVID-19 – hosted by Dr. Samantha Farris
Describe common psychological reactions during COVID-19 and introduce valued living as a strategy to improve mood and well-being.
- VIEW RECORDED SESSION | Password: FnvFCUk2
Dr. Samantha Farris
Dr. Farris is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology, a licensed clinical psychologist, and is the Director of The Rutgers Emotion, Health and Behavior (REHAB) Laboratory. Dr. Farris’ research focuses on understanding the link between how and why fear and anxiety contribute to problem health behaviors and chronic disease and developing novel behavioral interventions that target anxiety to improve both physical and mental health.
Mindfulness – hosted by Dr. Kristen Riley
Mindfulness has been shown to confer benefits to mental and physical health, which are especially important during the coronavirus pandemic and the racism pandemic. Didactics about mindfulness, discussion of mindfulness interventions and apps, and two mindfulness practices will be incorporated in this presentation.
Dr. Kristen Riley
Kristen E. Riley is an Assistant Professor at GSAPP. She received her Ph.D. in clinical psychology with a certificate in health psychology is from the University of Connecticut, and completed a health psychology internship at the Miami VA Medical Center and postdoctoral fellowship in cancer prevention at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC). Her program of research decreases unhealthy behaviors and increases access to care, with a focus on health disparities. Specifically, she studies stigma, rumination, superstition, mindfulness, tobacco, and sleep, and she uses dissemination and implementation science to integrate behavioral medicine into medical settings to improve access to care and get interventions to those who need them most.
Dr. Riley is the chief of the Health Policy Council at the Society for Health Psychology at the American Psychological Association. She promotes integrated care teamwork as a member of the Interprofessional Education Faculty Advisory Council. She is an affiliate member of the Department of Psychology, Center for Alcohol & Substance Use Studies, and the Center for Tobacco Studies at the School of Public Health, is a member of Women’s Health and Psychiatry at RWJBarnabas Health, and is an associate member of the Cancer Institute of New Jersey in Cancer Prevention and Control. She is fluent in Spanish.
Dr. Riley is currently working on several lines of research GSAPP, including:
- LGBTQ+ smoking cessation
- Lung cancer stigma and anti-tobacco public health campaigns
- Integrating psychology into primary care and medical settings
- Spanish speaking insomnia treatment
- Ultra-brief mindfulness interventions
- Maternal mortality and morbidity in Black women