New name coming for USC communications college

The University of South Carolina’s communications and library science college likely will have a new name to go along with its new digs later this year.

A panel of USC trustees agreed Friday to change the college’s name from the College of Mass Communication and Information Studies to the College of Information and Communications.

“The existing name has been cumbersome since its inception in 2002,” Interim Provost Helen Doerphinghaus told trustees Friday.

USC’s full Board of Trustees must give final approval to the name change.

The College houses the School of Journalism and Mass Communication and the School of Library and Information Science.

The journalism school and the college’s administrative offices are moving from the Carolina Coliseum to a new location near the USC Horseshoe, where classes are expected to begin in the fall.

With that relocation, “the time is opportune” to change the name, as new signs will be needed for the new location, Doerpinghaus said.

The change comes down to “editing to get two extra words out,” said the college’s dean, Charles Bierbauer.