The School of Communication is getting too big for its britches.
In the last 10 years, the Department of Mass Communications and Journalism Studies doubled in size and has the largest number of non-business majors.
“There is not doubt that new facilities are needed, desperately needed,” Director of Digital Media Studies Jeff Rutenbeck said. “Mass Communications has been growing. The number of undergraduates and graduates has increased, and the need for space has increased.”
But how much space is needed? Look to the Digital Media Studies Program for the answer. In 1996, the DMS program began with zero students and no faculty. Six years later and a booming interest in digital technology, more than 100 undergraduate and 30 graduate students claim DMS as their major. The faculty grew to 12, adding recently two new positions in the Mass Communication and Art and Art History departments.
The DMS program escaped its cramped space in the aging Mass Communication building on South Gaylord Street at the south end of campus and moved to the fourth floor of Sturm Hall. A new computer lab was wired and became a full-time teaching lab. New faculty offices were also added on the fourth floor. Another computer lab was opened in the old language lab on the first floor of Sturm Hall and is now a 24-hour-access working lab.
Mike Wirth, chair of the Mass Communications department, said the move was necessary and ultimately beneficial.
“We’ve outgrown our space,” Wirth said. “When there’s an opportunity to fill vacant space, you got to take it or someone else will. It made a lot of sense for us to make the move. And the faculty voted unanimously to move the program.”
Because the DMS program is an interdisciplinary program, the move allows for students to be closer to the art department in the Shwayder Building, where they also enroll in courses. Another benefit is that more room is now available in the Mass Communication building. Faculty that didn’t have offices now do. The lab that was moved is being renovated into a smart classroom.
But not all is looking good for the School of Communication. The Human Communications department was notified that it would have to leave its home in Spruce Hall. The Graduate School of Social Work raised enough money to renovate Spruce Hall. On June 1, both departments will leave the building as the renovations begin. But new temporary locations for both departments are yet to be found.
“The university made a promise to us that it would find adequate space comparable to what we have now,” Fran Dickson, chair of the Department of Human Communications, said. “We have full trust that they will do that.”
But there are no immediate plans for a new School of Communication building. Wirth said it might take about another five to 10 years.
Greg Kvistad, dean of Arts and Humanities, who oversees the allocation of space for programs in Sturm Hall said that lack of space is a struggle most universities encounter.
“It’s a challenge every university faces,” Kvistad said.
In the interim, the School of Communication will continue to provide the best faculty and technology for its students, Rutenbeck and Wirth said.
After the completion of the College of Law, the next building waiting to be constructed is the Women’s College, followed by a building for the School of Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Management.
