Students are planning to protest a recent decision made by university administrators that will leave the communication arts department without many of its classrooms in Veazey Hall beginning this fall.

Michael Smith, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, has verified that those classes will have a home, but only two classrooms in Veazey will continue to be used by the communication arts department.

“Classrooms on the first floor of Veazey will not be available for classes in the fall,” Michael Smith said. “We are locating alternative spaces for the classes scheduled in the fall and we will have those spaces. There is plenty of space across campus.”

A group of communication arts students have created a Facebook group called the “Save Veazey Committee” and met Wednesday night to discuss what can be done. The group is selling t-shirts sporting the slogan, “Save Veazey,” and is drafting a petition to be signed by the student body.

Much of the communication arts department’s faculty and students believe losing Veazey and being spread out across campus will come with consequences and disadvantages.

“I feel like our department has been kicked around a lot and it’s not fair that they’re trying to take our home away from us once again,” Georgia Southern University public relations senior Michelle Blubaugh said. “We just got here and we just got comfortable and we’ve developed this family type of relationship with each other. They are not just making us walk all over campus for our class, but they are kind of separating our family. They’re not thinking of the student’s point of view.”

Communication arts Department Chair Pam Bourland-Davis said, “As I understand, we are losing all the classrooms on the first floor and will eventually lose the five offices we have on the second floor.”

The communication arts department has been moving from place to place across campus for years and only recently settled in Veazey Hall.

“My perception is that this decision is affecting morale significantly since it makes us functionally homeless, at least where our students are concerned,” Bourland-Davis said.

“For the fall, we’ll keep our two classrooms on the third floor in Veazey so we’ll have some contact point with our students near our offices since as a communication department, we have always valued our interaction and work with our students who complete service learning projects, multimedia productions, campaigns, all of which require more than just classroom meetings with students.”

GSU’s provost said that plans are still in the early stages.

“At the present time, we are still in the very early planning phases for any renovation work that may be done in Veazey Hall,” Interim Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Jean Bartels said.

“Any final plans for campus renovations affecting Veazey Hall will hinge on potential renovations to Brannen Hall that are also being planned.  As more planning is done, more details will be forthcoming.”

Bourland-Davis said that the department had originally planned to move into a new multidisciplinary building in a few years.

“Part of understanding the faculty response is that we were in the Communication Arts Building for approximately 17 years and the South Building for two years- both temporary facilities. In the former building, we were faced with issues, such as the building being flooded when a urinal fell off the wall, a toilet falling through the floor, mold, leaks, etc.  As such, Veazey represented a new home.”

“At that time, the new facility appeared to be at least 12-14 years down the road; unfortunately, the economy has more than doubled that time line,” Bourland-Davis said.

The new locations for fall communication arts classes have yet to be announced.

Michael Smith said, “They will certainly have a home; unfortunately, from their perspective, they will not have those classrooms in their building. This happens at universities all the time.”

Some faculty members are in contact with alumni and students, informing them about the changes.

Multimedia communications professor Reed Smith said, “At this point, we are telling students that they can make their voice heard. I am also appealing to alumni that I am in contact with to let the campus administration know that they are considered about this development.”

According to Reed Smith, the department caught wind of the situation through rumors a few weeks ago, but was not formally told about what was happening until recently. Smith explained that the administration’s lack of communication on the matter has upset some of the faculty.

“Even to this day, now that it is clear that this story has leaked out around campus, no one has talked to us directly,” Reed Smith said.

“I feel badly for them that they are losing classrooms in their building, but we are going to have good space for them and their classes are going to have a home,” Michael Smith said.

Many students and faculty in the department argue that having a centralized location for the department creates a sense of community.

“Everyone on campus needs space,” Bourland-Davis said.  “We already work with the radio station in Williams Center, our broadcast studio in Carroll, the Scene Shop, the Costume Shop and the Center for Art and Theatre, so having Veazey as a central location for our students in most of our classes has helped.”

“It symbolically represented to us that we mattered on this campus,” Reed Smith said.

It is not yet clear who will be occupying the Veazey classrooms next fall, but according to Bourland-Davis the decision by the administration is final.