J-School chooses new location

The School of Journalism and Mass Communications has plans to be relocated to what now houses the Arnold School of Public Health on the corner of Sumter and Greene streets after the building undergoes massive renovations.

"It's going to be a total, complete renovation on the inside," said Carol Pardun, director of the School of Journalism and Mass Communications. "The outside will stay in the consistent historic nature, but we're looking at a down-to-the-studs kind of renovation. We're anticipating it to be modern on the inside and traditional on the outside."

News of the move comes after a planned move to Leconte College fell through. Dean of the College of Mass Communications and Information Studies Charles Bierbauer said a legislative bond that would have allowed the move to go forward in 2007 didn't materialize.

The university then took a broad look at its base requirements and concluded a number of buildings needed renovation, with the health sciences building at the top of the list, Bierbauer said.

"I saw it as my responsibility to move the school in the first available and viable facility," he said."The health sciences building would preced Leconte by a number of years. Under those circumstances it wasn't all that tough of a decision."

Bierbauer said the move should also be less expensive as the university is footing the bill for some of the renovations.

The Boudreaux Group, the architectural firm handling the renovations, met with students and faculty last Friday in the CEO room of the Coliseum for a brainstorming session. Another meeting was held Thursday to discuss what the school will need based on the number of students and size of the faculty, Pardun said.

The J-School is home to roughly 1,400 students and has about 30 full-time faculty members. Pardun said no one would be displaced during the move.

Relocating the school has been discussed frequently in the past. Ken Campbell, head of electronic and print sequence, said he was told the school would be relocating when he first joined the faculty 20 years ago. The school had plans of moving to Leconte

"Faculty who have been here even longer than I have have been hearing the same thing," he said. "It's kind of a joke for us, but at the same time, we really believe it's about to happen."

Pardun, who has been with the school since August, said that many of the faculty were "cautiously optimistic" about the move.

Van Kornegay, head of the visual communications sequence, said meeting the architects was a good sign.

"Having gone through several rounds of 'you're going to be getting a new building,' and it didn't happen, it does make you a little bit jaded in a sense," he said. "If we do get one, that will be great."

Students and faculty alike agreed that they would miss the parking at the Coliseum, but that the new location was more centrally located to campus. The fact that the building has windows and classrooms that are above ground is something students and faculty are looking forward to.

"The building that we're in now is not conducive to great teaching or learning," Pardun said. "That being said, I am constantly amazed at how well the faculty teach and how much is learned. We're doing a fantastic job in a less than ideal situation."

Stephanie McConahy, a third-year public relations student, said although the Coliseum was dreary, she would miss it.

"I would miss it because it's where I started out," she said.

While some students would miss the Coliseum, others said they would not.

"I don't have a strong attachment to it," said Bill Lane, a fourth-year public relations student.

Lane and McConahy both said that more computer labs would be useful.

"A computer lab that does not house classes, that's just primarily just a computer lab," Lane said. "That seems to be a main concern as well."

As of now, costs have not been determined and no dates have been set. Pardun said planning was still in the conceptual stage.

"Everything is still up in the air," she said.

-Editor-in-chief Brad Maxwell contributed to this report