Scott Russell - Assistant Professor of Sports Management
Title: Assistant Professor of Sports Management
Years at the Mount: Three
Department: School of Business
Campus involvement: Faculty Athletics representative; representative for the School of Business on the Faculty Senate; and member of the Admissions Committee, the Study Abroad Advisory Committee, the Athletics Hall-of-Fame Committee, the Writing Intensive Committee, and the FYE Advisory Committee.
Favorite spot on campus: His office – He says his door is always open and it makes his day to have a student stop in to chat for a while, whether planning for next semester’s classes, discussing an internship, or just talking about the prospects for an upcoming sports season.
One word to describe the Mount: Optimism
Before coming to the Mount, Scott Russell coached at the collegiate level for 20 years. Coming to the Mount was a similar feeling to being a coach. “My favorite thing about working for the college is having the ability to interact with my students the same way I did with my athletes,” Russell said about working at the Mount. Russell got to know all of his athletes well, and they became close to a family. He believes the same principles apply to being a teacher: “The size of our campus and the number of different classes I teach give me a better chance to have a positive impact on, and provide academic advice to, our students.”
Russell puts a lot of hard work into making sure his students have what they need to succeed beyond college. He takes pride in the Sports Management program here at the Mount and is always looking to improve it and provide more opportunities to students. Just this semester, he helped introduce a new course not only for those in the Sports Management program, but also Communications students. This class, Intro to Sports Media, has been a huge success. This is just one example showing how much care Russell puts into his job. He always looks for new opportunities to help his students gain knowledge and experience in all aspects of sports.
Preparing students for their careers is something Russell holds as a top priority while teaching. “I believe giving students in the Sports Management program the ability to earn a degree in Business or Accounting, while still pursuing a passion for sports, increases the chance that they will have a career doing something they love,” he said. Russell hopes to continue to grow the Sports Management program and hopefully make it its own major one day. His students are always the first thought when making changes or adding something to the program, to ensure they are getting everything they need to be successful in life. “I truly hope that students in my Sports Management classes realize that hard work and commitment lead to professional success, the same way those traits lead to success on the athletic field. Believing in yourself and working hard almost always lead to being successful at both.”
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