After nearly 60 consecutive years on campus, the 101-year-old Daily Collegian will relocate to an office downtown by fall.

The Collegian will vacate Carnegie Building and move to James Building, 121 S. Burrowes St., to make space for expansion within the School of Communications. The move has been tentatively planned to start the Monday after finals, said Gerry Lynn Hamilton, Collegian general manager.

The reason for the move is simple -- Penn State needs more room, said the school's dean, Brian Winston. He explained that the University was not prepared for the increase of communications students which has occurred over the past two years.

The Collegian will sublease the first floor and half of the second floor of James Building from the University, which is leasing the building from its owner, Charles Rider II, said James R. Dungan, senior director, facilities resources management division.

The total cost of the move has not yet been established, Hamilton said. However, the Collegian will pay for part of the renovations and the University will pick up the rest of the tab, he added.

"We would prefer to have a permanent home on campus," Hamilton said.

"(The move) is the biggest decision we have made in the 11 years I've been here. It has been discussed more than any other decision by (the staff) . . . we feel that of all the options available at this time, this is the best solution and we are happy with the arrangement," he added.

If a new communications complex is built near Mitchell Building on Shortlidge Road, space will be made available for a Collegian office, according to the terms of the James Building lease, Dungan said.

Collegian Editor-in-Chief Carolyn Sorisio said she views the newspaper as a viable part of the School of Communications and feels it would be best to have physical connection with the school.

Now that negotiations are almost settled, the staff is making preparations for moving day.

The University will move most of the equipment, which includes typesetting machines, a process camera, files and furniture, said Production Manager John C. Boor. Members of the production staff -- a group of 17 professionals -- will transport and reassemble the new computer system which was purchased last August, he said.

Boor said the production staff is excited about moving to a new office. The staff is looking forward to working in a place with proper lighting and a ceiling that does not have pipes sticking out of it, he said.

"I think (the new facility) is going to promote an attitude of professionalism, which is hard to generate here when you're tucked away in a basement," he added.

The student staff of the Collegian is also adjusting to the idea of moving to a downtown office.

The business division will have to work to remind students that the paper is still a service to them, said Advertising Adviser Candace W. Heckard.

"It's still a newspaper by the students and for the students," she said.

Collegian Business Manager Jan Miller said she expects over-the-counter advertising sales, especially classified advertisements, to dropoff considerably.

Because the Collegian is losing its location in the middle of campus, it may be more difficult for clients to stop by for a few minutes between classes to place an advertisement, she explained.

"People will have to make an effort to come downtown on a free hour," she said.

Heckard said the business division may establish a drop-off box in the Associated Student Activities Office, 202 HUB, for campus organizations to place advertisements. An advertising training session, to orient student organization publicity chairpersons to the move, will also be offered fall semester, she said.

A separate campus counter will not be established, Heckard said.

Patrons would probably favor visiting a campus office, making it so busy that double the current business staff of about 80 people would be required to tend both the downtown and campus counters, she said.

Whereas the student business division brings in 80 percent of the Collegian's $1.6 million budget, Miller said, about 6 percent of these sales come from classified advertisements.

Sorisio, said the news staff is also excited about the new office.

Because the downtown office is being designed specifically to provide more functional space for reporters and editors to do their work, she said, such as room specifically set aside for long distance telephones and bound volumes of the newspaper. This type of space, she said, will eliminate the current cramped environment.

Although the staff will have to adjust to being off-campus, Sorisio said she feels news coverage will not change.

"Our specialty is covering Penn State . . . we will continue our current level of campus coverage. Penn State is our main concern," she said.

Some of the staff members are concerned about the physical break in ties with the journalism faculty, Sorisio said. The staff will not have as easy access to the school's faculty to ask for opinions. The School of Communications faculty currently have offices surrounding the Collegian's office.

Current Collegian staff members will miss Carnegie Building because of the memories that have been established in its halls, Sorisio said.

"But in a few years, nobody will miss Carnegie, the staff will adjust," she said.

"I can't imagine walking through the big black doors of Carnegie and not coming into the Collegian office. But, the Collegian is more than a building or an office, it's the people and the experience," Sorisio said.