Beginning in the fall, the School of Mass Communication will have a new home. The school will move from the College of Arts and Sciences into the College of Music and Fine Arts.

According to David Borofsky, interim provost, the change comes due to the creative nature of mass communication majors and the alignment of the subject with other creative professions.

“My assessment, and the assessment of people I’ve talked to, is that in the School of Mass Comm, there is a lot more creativity which goes on in mass comm, which is not unlike the creativity that goes on in music or arts or drama,” Borofsky said.

The College of Arts and Sciences is the largest college on campus, while the College of Music and Fine Arts is growing, Borofsky said.

He also said there were talks to move the department to the College of Business, but in the end, the move to the College of Music and Fine Arts seemed a better fit.

“It is based on what I think is best for the school, and I know not everyone is going to agree on what’s best for the school,” Borofsky said.

He added there are many universities nationwide which also house mass communication departments in artistic colleges.

Kern Maass, dean of the College of Music and Fine Arts, came from a university where that was the case.

“The college I represented before I got here, Appalachian State, the department of communication was in the college (of fine arts). So I collaborated with communication faculty all the time. It was a no-brainer to me, in the sense of having that background,” Maass said.

He said he was involved in the initial discussion of the change, but ultimately it was the provost’s decision.

Maass doesn’t foresee any immediate changes for mass communication students and faculty but hopes that collaboration between departments in the college will provide opportunities for additional and extra classes, as well as enhancing certain areas in the degree.

“There are certainly synergies across design and communication and film and communication. I think this just makes it a lot easier to enhance and make those opportunities happen for students a lot easier,” he said.

Maass said with the addition of more than 200 mass communication students, he hopes the college will see an increase in budget.

“It’s easier for us to leverage those synergies, to find more resources, to be able to acquire more faculty, because we have more need in general,” Maass said.

Sonya Duhe, director of the School of Mass Communication, views the change as an opportunity to complement multiple programs.

“The School of Music has traditionally been an extremely strong school here, just like the School of Mass Communication,” Duhe said. “I see it as an opportunity to, in a number of years, make the School of Mass Comm more visible.”

Borofsky and Maass both said there are discussions and plans to change the name of the college in order to be more inclusive of mass communication graduates.