Despite attending the Moody College of Communication, I rarely spend any time studying there. Instead, I spend the majority of my time studying in engineering and other STEM buildings on campus. 

Moody prides itself on the ideals of collaboration and creativity. However, there are very few study spaces within Moody available for students to work, collaborate, and create. Moody should provide more study spaces within its buildings to foster student success. 

Public relations freshman Zachary Rodriguez shares his frustration with the lack of study spaces available at Moody. 

“I don’t even feel like we have any study spaces,” Rodriguez said. “I feel like a lot of the other majors … know that they have spaces within their buildings and it kind of makes them all come together.”

Considering Moody has recently been ranked second in Communications and Media Studies in the United States, it doesn’t seem right that the college’s environment doesn’t meet that standard. Although the college has put in an effort to create recording and filming spaces, not all majors within Moody find those spaces relevant. Therefore, Moody should make more spaces for every student, regardless of major, to use. 

Moody does have some seating, but not enough seating for a college that currently educates 4,696 undergraduate and graduate students. In buildings like the G.B. Dealey Center for New Media, there should be more seating for students and study rooms that students can utilize to collaborate on projects. Currently, the building has the most seating on the first floor near the crowded entrance that constantly brings in noise, making it a difficult spot to work and study. 

“There should be more resources and outlets for Moody majors considering that there’s a lot of creativity that goes into it, and I feel like our college should provide an area that we can go within to be able to do those things,” Rodriguez said. 

In addition, many Moody majors have to work on various softwares including Adobe Creative Cloud that can either be paid for or accessed through certain UT computers. Currently, one of the only available computer labs on campus that offers Adobe Creative Cloud is at the Fine Arts Library located on the opposite side of campus to Moody. If Moody wants all of its students to have equal opportunity, they should have a computer lab conveniently set up for Moody students with the software needed for Moody courses. 

The Moody College of Communication has declined to comment on this issue, but with Moody being a constantly growing and changing college at UT, it’s clear that its infrastructure should grow alongside its academically diverse student population. An important factor of this lies with providing more study spaces for students. 

Artale is a journalism freshman from Diamond Bar, California.