Success Stories > Northern Alberta Institute of Technology: Riches at Discount Rates

The Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) has always had an active culture. Like many colleges and universities, it has the advantage of onsite fitness facilities, available to staff as well as students. Because NAIT teaches personal recreational trainers, there’s also an abundance of training expertise on campus, including staff and interns. What’s more, all facilities and training are priced at a discount as a carrot to both onsite users and the general public.

Yet it’s a challenge to entice the younger generation away from their computers and off their duffs, says Campus Sport and Wellness Coordinator Sheryl Hansen. “It’s almost a split population. We do have a lot of runners and cyclists and really active people, but then there’s the younger group who tend to be less active.”

The wellness team shamelessly tempts folks of all ages to get involved by hosting monthly lunch and learn line-ups that feature not only numerous wellness topics but prizes and healthy food. During NAIT’s annual staff in-service month, they attracted standing room only crowds for sessions on body composition, cardio assessment, functional fitness, yoga and ball exercise. “It gets people interested, and then they come back and do more,” Sheryl says.

Campus Wellness and Sports operates as a tiny island within NAIT, which has around 2,340 staff and 58,000 students. “There’s no formal wellness policy, but we do have management support, and we have the freedom to brainstorm ideas and run with them to see if they work,” Sheryl says. “To me, that shows things don’t always happen in the prescribed way. We can lay out guidelines about how programs develop with support from the top, but sometimes it works from the bottom up. And that’s okay.”

No matter how an initiative begins, Sheryl adds, “You always, always need a champion with energy who really supports the program. And it’s best not to do it alone.” At NAIT, an active health and wellness committee helps to plan, vet, champion and review a shifting array of programs in a range of prices, from free and low cost to cost recovery.

“We know the interests may differ at other campuses, so we’re trying to provide opportunities not only to exercise but to do recreational activities,” Sheryl says. The team is also laying plans to subsidize off-campus wellness options for employees in St. Albert (20 staff), Fairview (70 staff) and High Level (just two staff).  This team also is one of the places other employers can turn for certified expertise in setting up a worksite wellness program.

A recent NAIT staff wellness brochure features this Emerson quote: “The first wealth is health.” In an institution whose technology graduates are seeing significant financial wealth in Alberta’s booming resource economy, it takes special effort to live by those words.

Staying Well at NAIT - A Summary of Initiatives

• Fitness facilities: Campus facilities are available at discount rates to the public as well as to staff and students.

• Personal training: As taught and practiced at NAIT, personal training focuses on functional needs such as muscle balance and rehabilitation rather than on the sculpted physique. This training is available to the public as well as to staff and students and is covered under some employee insurance plans.

• Physical activity classes: Yoga, Pilates, dance, boxing, exercise balls and more.

• Guided activity breaks: Available for meetings and conference sessions on request.

• Ten-minute activity breaks: Coaching and equipment (balls, bands, tubing, etc.) available to help employees get into the habit of taking short breaks during the day.

• Route calculations: Distances of particular walking and running routes charted on request.

• Sporting events: Staff vs. student dodge ball, hockey and other sports. Also a subsidized and thus affordable (and very popular) staff golf tournament.

• Feel Great @ NAIT: Free sessions planned by the NAIT’s health and wellness advisory committee on social and mental health topics such as sleep disorders, substance abuse, life balance and stress management.