Eight AddRan College of Liberal Arts departments, along with the AddRan dean’s office, will be moving into the new Scharbauer Hall in late December.

Andrew Schoolmaster, the dean of AddRan College, said the John V. Roach Honors College and the departments of political science, modern languages and literatures, Spanish and Hispanic studies, philosophy, economics, sociology and anthropology and criminal justice will move into Scharbauer Hall Dec. 28 and 29.

These departments were chosen to move based on the budget, the size of Scharbauer Hall, the department’s current residences and an examination of the total program, Schoolmaster said.

The new building will help build learning communities, Schoolmaster said. He said he hopes being located closer together will help the departments interact.

Schoolmaster said faculty members are excited at the prospect of new offices. Offices of faculty members from the economics, sociology, anthropology and criminal justice departments have been located in trailers for about 20 years, Schoolmaster said.

“I know they are excited to leave the trailers behind,” Schoolmaster said.

Scharbauer Hall will have three different classroom styles. There will be large, tiered seating classrooms as well as typical seating classrooms that seat 34 students and smaller classrooms with tables.

Schoolmaster said the building will also have an anthropology lab, a multipurpose room, two computer labs and six team rooms. It will also house a debate chamber. This debate chamber will be used mostly for guest speakers and other academic functions.

Sociology professor Jeff Ferrell said he and his colleagues are looking forward to being more centrally located on campus. Most of the department’s classes will be held in the building near the professor’s offices, facilitating interaction between students and professors, Ferrell said.

“In our old location it could be a little difficult to find us; now we look forward to being more integrated into the campus and into student activities,” Ferrell said.

While he is looking forward to the new office, he will miss the culture of the trailer location, Ferrell said.

“Over the years, we and the students have come to have a certain pride in the trailer,” he said. “It’s our little home, however modest it may be.”

Senior fashion merchandising major Katy Moloney said the new building will make classes more convenient for people who live on campus. However, the location of the building will be inconvenient for commuter students whose other classes are typically on the other side of campus, Moloney said.