Russell Sage College selling buildings on its Troy campus

TROY, N.Y. (NEWS10) - Russell Sage College is selling four of its buildings along the perimeter of the Troy campus, according to the college president. This decision comes as the College of Saint Rose recently closed down for good and left many of its buildings up for sale, while sending off its last graduating class.

Russell Sage College will also be moving some of its programs, including the bookstore and student housing, to newly renovated buildings in the center of the campus to accommodate a large incoming undergraduate class. Matthew Shaftel, the president of the college, said these changes are all part of a goal to serve student activity.

"So what we decided to do was to sell the buildings that are kind of on the periphery of our court here and really invest and make sure that our buildings are meeting our student needs right here on campus," Shaftel said. "We have been able to do that grace to unprecedented growth in our programs."

The college plans to move the current student housing to three buildings already in the middle of campus. The buildings will also be renovated with the money made from selling the four excess buildings.

New Buildings Housing Students:

• Sage Hall: new residence hall
• French House: new residence hall
• Paine Hall: new Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, and health science labs and classrooms
• M.O.S.S. Bookstore moving to the inside of Buchman Pavilion

The president said 11 programs will be added to the school in the fall, some carried over from the College of Saint Rose. The president also says the college has $15 million they plan to invest in the programs.

"The speech language pathology program, which I know is going to be really terrific," he said. "We've got a forensic psychology program that we're opening, an educational leadership program, a mental health counseling degree, and a doctorate in nursing."

Russell Sage will see a 9% increase in enrollment at the Troy campus, solely from transfer students from the College of Saint Rose, making those attending in the fall, the largest undergraduate class in six years and the largest graduate class in a decade. The president said the changes will accommodate the increased student activity.

"So we're all about active learning," he said. "We're about really engaging in the community and making the community better. And so when you talk about that as the experience, bringing everybody to the core is so critical."

The school plans to have the buildings ready for students to live in and take classes in by the fall.