Obtained slideshow reveals College of Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Analytics is set to move into Sycamore Hall by 2030

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The North Texas Daily acquired a slideshow presentation, sent to Mayborn School of Journalism faculty on Aug. 24, detailing the College of Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Analytics’ move into Sycamore Hall.

The presentation contains a “tentative relocation plan” where the departments of anthropology, sociology, journalism and Sycamore Library, will be relocated. The plan outlines moving the College of Information, now the Anuradha and Vikas Sinha College of Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Analytics, into Sycamore Hall, with the current Access Control Room and IT Data Center remaining.

“The Sycamore Hall Renovation, together with the General Academic Building and Language Building relocations, are a strategic investment to reposition campus assets and better align with the University’s academic priorities and future needs,” the presentation’s project overview states. 

This move, which also requires renovations of Sycamore Library, the General Academic Building and Language Building, is set to cost the university an estimated $79 million dollars, $60 million of which will be construction costs, according to the presentation.

Within the project’s five-year timeline, the planning and preparation of the move began in April and May of 2026. 

This fall semester was then set to “define program, space needs and planning requirements.” 

The plan states the departments and library that are leaving Sycamore Hall are set to move out of the building from June of 2027 through April of 2028. The Mayborn School of Journalism will be moving to the GAB, and the Anthropology and Sociology Departments, now both a part of the School of Social Research and Practice, will be moving to the Language Building. 

Their new locations in the GAB and Language Building respectively are also planned to be renovated during this time. 

Sycamore Library, constructed in 1937 and one of two active depository collections in Texas, will be moving to both Willis Library and the Research Collections Library near Interstate 35, at the edge of campus, according to the plan. 

Overlapping with the move of these programs, March 2027 through April 2030 will also mark the renovation period of Sycamore Hall, with the College of Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Analytics set to move into the building by April 2030.

The presentation includes a “stewardship model” describing the strategies behind their facility decisions. Included in the model are principles to “repurpose underutilized or poorly performing spaces to create efficient, high-performing environments that meet current and future programmatic needs,” among others. 

Another listed principle is to “maintain a campus Facility Condition Index (FCI) ≤ 0.10” with Sycamore Library rated as a “.41” on the presentation. 

FCI is found by dividing the total cost of a renovation by the cost to replace the building entirely, meaning for Sycamore Library, its upkeep would cost 41 percent of the amount to replace it entirely. 

As of writing, the university has not released an official press release about Sycamore Hall’s future, but administrators have confirmed to the Daily an announcement is in progress without a confirmed date. 

Prior to any official statement by the university, rumors and speculation surrounding the library’s move have already spread via social media.

Both an Oct. 3 post on Reddit and an Oct. 4 post on YikYak featured links to the same online petition named “Save Sycamore Library” protesting the university’s decision. 

Biology senior Gabriella Grimes started the Change.org petition protesting the removal of the library two weeks ago and has since received over 1,000 verified signatures. 

“I’m gonna be honest, I started it thinking no one would sign it,” Grimes said. “I’m hoping this raises awareness so that more students know about it and maybe join efforts as a student body. It could put pressure on UNT to answer our questions and be more honest.” 

Grimes said she originally learned of the library’s move through staff members and found the lack of direct transparency by the university frustrating. 

“I'm putting a lot of energy and effort into this, and then for UNT, like the administration, to not even be honest or, like, have a space for students to interject, it feels kind of like a violation,” Grimes said. “It feels wrong.”

In addition to no official notice of the library’s future at the time of writing, the university’s library site contains no mention of Sycamore Hall’s move in its news and announcements section or on its social media accounts. 

However, there is a direct mention in a blog post within its “125 Year Archival Retrospective”, an ongoing library blog inaccessible from the university library blogs home page. 

In “The Library: 1937 Building”, a July 2026 blog post by UNT Special Collections, it chronicles the history of “The Library”, now known as Sycamore Hall today.

It states, “In 2026, an announcement concerning the relocation of the library and the other departments housed in Sycamore Hall would be conducted over two years.” It also states, “The Board of Regents has yet to announce the plans for the site.”

Within the two sentences, it is unclear when a university announcement was supposedly made about Sycamore Hall’s future or who provided it. Or if the announcement would be conducted over the span of two years, as the sentence suggests. 

Without an official university statement, Grimes’ petition with 1,000 signatures contains voices protesting the library’s move but also for an increase of university transparency. 

“I signed this petition to show I care and for many other reasons but also as a call for transparency: If the pros of whatever would be replacing Sycamore actually outweigh the cons, why the reticent behavior? Why has no official statement been made when the decision affects so many people?” a commenter named Bri said on the petition’s page. 

With plans already in motion to rearrange the occupants of Sycamore Hall, Grimes said she is unsure if the petition will ultimately reverse any of the university’s decisions. 

However, she added that seeing the outpouring support for the library she has spent her last four years using has been worthwhile. 

“I feel like it's so frustrating sometimes where you'll speak out against something or you'll say your views, and it's almost kind of like either rejected or it's just like, ‘Oh, nothing's gonna happen just because you, one person, want to do something,’” Grimes said. “But this has been really nice to see, like UNT kind of band together as a community to help save the library that everyone loves.”

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