A new undergraduate fellowship office is now in business and other University plans to improve undergraduate education are in full swing.

Last April, University President Joab Thomas announced plans to increase the monetary amount of teaching awards, create grants for proposals to improve teaching, provide research funds for faculty with heavy teaching loads, encourage undergraduate research and increase student participation in Truman, Marshall and Rhodes scholarship programs.

All have been implemented, Thomas said recently.

A new fund -- the Penn State Fund for Undergraduate Education -- has been designated to supplement grants from the United Federal Bank Fund for designing new courses, said C. Gregory Knight, vice provost and dean of undergraduate education.

Money has been added to the Improvements for Undergraduate Instruction Fund, Knight said, adding that guidelines are being developed for the future use of the additional monies.

The new Improvements for Undergraduate Instruction Fund enables professors to buy supplies to enhance classes, invite guest lecturers for classes and hold trips to research libraries, he said.

Figures for those funds were unavailable.

In addition, faculty teams that have improved the quality of teaching will be given extra merit salary, Knight said.

A 1 percent salary increase, based on department deans' recommendations and evaluations, is awarded for team efforts or innovations created by three or four faculty members, said John Brighton, executive vice president and provost.

Also, the Undergraduate Fellowship Office in Willard Building now provides information about undergraduate fellowships. The office is still searching for a permanent head who will work there on a part-time basis, said Eric White, acting coordinator of the office.

Currently, two Penn State students are in the final interview stages for the Truman Awards, academic awards for undergraduates to put toward their graduate education, Knight said. Penn State hasn't been represented in a number of years, he added.

The Undergraduate Fellowship Office works to identify students for possible awards, to alert faculty, students and administrators to the award's requirements and to find faculty members to help students achieve the awards, White said. The goals come from the strategic plan of undergraduate education, he added.

"We've just been in business since the middle of the fall," White said, adding that there is a part-time secretary in an office in Willard Building.

The awards are competitive and not every student who applies wins, White said. But just by applying, students get a chance to plan their educational careers, he said.