As part of a plan to better utilize space on campus, the UA Student Affairs Office and Space Management made a proposal last week to move ROTC from South Hall to the Babcock building, located near Speedway and Campbell.

But in response to opposition from Reserve Officers' Training Corps members, the Office of Students Affairs has offered a new plan that would keep classrooms and lounge spaces in one half of South Hall, which is just southeast of Centennial Hall.

The Department of Residence Life would operate in the other portion, to leave room for the expanding Honors Program, with which it now shares space in Slonaker House, near North Park Avenue and East Second Street.

According to the revised plan released Monday, ROTC faculty offices would be relocated to the administrative offices of Babcock, while South Hall would be split between Residence Life and ROTC programs, said Saundra Taylor, vice president of student affairs.

The initial plan was altered after ROTC members complained Babcock was not safe or accessible to students, Taylor said.

Taylor said ROTC members were told of the plan by Melissa Vito, dean of students.

But Col. Terence Thompson said that, as of yesterday afternoon, ROTC commanders had not yet been told about the university's new proposal.

South Hall currently houses ROTC programs for the Army, Marine Corps, Air Force and Navy with an enrollment of 531 students this semester.

The relocation of ROTC is part of a plan, initiated through Provost Paul Sypherd's office, that is examining space on campus to improve service delivery for undergraduate education, Taylor said.

Part of the reason for the moves, Taylor said, is that the Honors Program has doubled in the past five years and does not have room for all of its services in its present offices.

Relocating ROTC to Babcock and Residence Life to South Hall seemed appropriate, she said.

Taylor said it is not unusual for faculty to have offices in buildings other that the ones in which they teach, it did not seem odd to move just the faculty members to Babcock. The plan, she said, would still allow students and faculty to meet in South Hall, a centrally located building.

Taylor has also offered ROTC the option of having offices and reception areas added on to open areas in front of Babcock.

But Kevin Rosenburg, a history major who came to the UA specifically for its Navy ROTC program said, "Even if they moved part of ROTC to Babcock it would destroy us."

In a press conference held Friday by ROTC cadet commanders to discuss the move, cadets argued that South Hall is more appropriate for the ROTC because of the many students who go in and out of the building daily.

"We use this facility all the time from 6 a.m. until 10 at night," said Amy Faz, an exercise sciences senior and Air Force ROTC cadet commander. "It's a place to hang out and study and it has great classrooms."

Moving ROTC to Babcock and away from other dorms on campus would also deter recruitment, a key factor in maintaining ROTC programs, Faz said.

Thompson said, "If the U of A wants this program they need to show that we are welcome here. By wanting to place us in Babcock, they aren't putting us in very high regard."

ROTC commanding officers will discuss the impact of possible relocation with Provost Paul Sypherd at 7:30 this morning.