Terrell Hall becomes new home for professor offices

This year students find new faces in Terrell Hall. One of the last lived in residence halls on front campus has been newly renovated and transformed into faculty office space for the Mass Communication Program and the Modern Foreign Languages Department.

Terrell was once filled with students rolling out of bed to get to their first class, sounds of stereos and late-night games of pool. Now, filing cabinets, bookshelves and professors fill these empty dorm rooms.

The decision to relocate the professors’ offices was made by Dean of the School of Liberal Arts & Sciences, Dr. Beth Rushing and Vice President & Dean of Faculties, Dr. Anne Gormly. Over the summer, Chair of the Modern Foreign Languages Department Dr. Roger Noel and Co-Chair & Coordinator of the Mass Communication Program Dr. Mary Jean Land led their departments’ move.

The Mass Communication Program was chosen to move because it had outgrown the office space in Arts & Sciences.

“This program was the right size to move – small enough to fit into the available space in Terrell, and moving them together allows us to maintain their strong sense of program identity,” Rushing said.

Mass Communication student Hetty White said,

“I feel like we kind of have our own place now…it’s all a communication building.”

Land is thankful for the new change.

“We have a lot of things that we didn’t have in A&S,” Land said.

New amenities include more space and a reading room furnished in part by The Colonnade. The reading room is located at the end of the second floor and was created to be a place for Mass Communication students to hang out and watch the news or use the informational resources.

The Modern Foreign Language Department is also now located in Terrell. This department was previously located in the Ann Simpson Smith House, next to Parkhurst Hall.

“When Terrell became vacant, it seemed the perfect opportunity for this department to return to the heart of campus,” Rushing said.

Dr. Ivan Ruiz-Ayala, a professor in the MFL Department, likes the new change.

“The most important thing is to be in contact with the students,” Ruiz-Ayala said.

Not many students came to the Smith House. It is more convenient to go to their offices, now that the MFL teachers are on campus. Students no longer have to worry about walking or driving over to the Smith House and not finding a parking spot.

GC&SU student Amber Oglesby has already taken advantage of the departments closer proximity

“It’s easier to access the foreign language teachers,” Oglesby said.

Senior Amanda Heaton sees at least one disadvantage to the new offices. This year’s freshmen will never know what it used to be like to live on front campus.

“I think it’s sad that Terrell and Bell are no longer being used as Residence Halls,” Heaton said. “We had such a great time on front campus, and all the new freshmen are not going to experience the joys of living on front campus.”

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Sep 2 2005. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry