Communication program faculty have begun packing their things to move out of Roosevelt Hall and into Plumb Hall, the program’s new home, for the spring 2026 semester.

The move is an effort to house the communication program in the same building as other programs in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, said Heidi Hamilton, interim associate dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences.

“We’ve been in (Roosevelt Hall) for nineteen, twenty years, but that was when we were the Communication and Theatre Department… when it was a different college—College of Liberal Arts and Sciences,” said Hamilton. “As part of the restructuring, now the communications (program) is in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences… And so what we were told is that they would just like the entire school to be together.”

The relocation will render Roosevelt Hall mostly empty. The graphic design lab, Frederickson Theatre and the Friesen studio housed in the building will still be in use, but the classrooms, office spaces and the second floor, which has been vacant all semester according to Hamilton, will likely remain empty. 

In early drafts of the campus master plan delivered last spring, all three models proposed the demolition of Roosevelt Hall. No plans have been announced to demolish the building.

“ESU’s campus master plan is a living document that is re-evaluated in approximately 10-year cycles. Work continues on the next iteration of the plan,” said Gwen Larson, director of media relations and internal communication, in an email. “We have received feedback on early proposals, but the final master plan is not yet developed or approved. Currently, there is no timeline to demolish Roosevelt Hall.” 

The move to Plumb Hall will help improve “day to day interactions” with colleagues in HSS, but communication faculty have recognized that students may struggle to integrate into Plumb Hall at first, said Hamilton. To help with the adjustment, the program plans to host an open house of faculty offices at the beginning of the semester as well as other events and activities.

“We’re doing things, and we’re very intentionally talking about ‘What can we do so that our students still feel that sense of community and belonging in the major?’” said Hamilton. “(That way) they still know where to find their communications faculty, they still have that sense of connection to the program.”