Russell Sage College to Add Two Saint Rose Business Faculty, Pioneering Flex Model to School of Management
Russell Sage College has hired two highly regarded business professors from The College of Saint Rose for its School of Management and will bring the unique Flex MBA format pioneered at Saint Rose to all of its graduate programs in management starting this fall. Saint Rose has announced it will close at the end of the 2023-2024 academic year.
Joining the School of Management at Russell Sage this fall are Haidy Brown, an associate professor of management with experience in management consultancy, labor relations, change management, and policy analysis, and John Dion, an associate professor of marketing who previously worked at LEGO Group and Bose Corporation.
The new faculty will team up with current management faculty to deliver the college’s three graduate business programs – the Master of Business Administration (MBA), Master of Science in Organization Management, and Master of Science in Health Services Administration – into the unique Flex format starting this fall. Currently, those programs are delivered in an online-only format.
The Flex format allows students to choose how they take their graduate classes each week – in person, via livestream, or online on their own time – when other programs require one set format. This gives students ultimate flexibility, as with a student who prefers real-time classes but worries unplanned work or family obligations will prevent them from attending.
Dion introduced The Flex MBA at Saint Rose in 2018. Based on fall 2023 data, the Albany Business Review listed the program among the top five enrolled MBA programs in the Capital Region, behind SUNY Empire, Excelsior University, and University at Albany, and just shy of enrollment at Clarkson University.
“We’re thrilled to announce the addition of these outstanding faculty to the School of Management,” said Russell Sage President Christopher Ames. “They are beloved by their students at Saint Rose, and their dedication to teaching the next business leaders makes them a perfect fit for us. We believe that graduate education should be practical and fit student and workforce needs. Moving our management master’s programs into the Flex format provides an ideal option for busy professionals seeking to advance in their careers.”
Russell Sage also offers a Workforce Development Partnership, giving employees of partner businesses and organizations a 10% tuition discount on select graduate programs, including the School of Management Flex programs, and allowing for deferred tuition payments.