The Undergraduate Student Government and the Instructional Development Program think they have a recipe for improving the University's intellectual environment:

Take one dash of concerned students, combine one part professors, add one part administrators, mix all ingredients together in one room and watch the results.

"Being a student at Penn State is different from being a student anywhere else," IDP Programs Coordinator Kathryn Plank said. "And teaching at Penn State is different than teaching anywhere else. Every University has its own culture."

IDP is part of the Office of Undergraduate Education and strives to improve teaching quality at the University through programs, classes and resources available to all instructors.

With those considerations in mind, next month IDP and USG will co-sponsor the first in a series of seminars for bringing together students, faculty and administrators.

The first meeting, scheduled for Feb. 15, will explore expectations and perceptions teachers and students have of each other. The forum, open to all students and faculty, will consist of small and large discussion groups.

Organizers hope to hold the new seminars two or three times each semester so that students, teachers and administrators can have a structured forum to learn from each other.

"It's really a way for students to get their voices heard and teachers to get their voices heard and understand each other in a different way," Plank said.

One student pushing for the seminars' success is USG South Halls Senator Mike Ganetsky, who is pleased they will be more issue-oriented rather than University policy-oriented. Initial feedback from administrators serving on the administrative council on undergraduate education was positive, he said.

"Every student has a mutual interest in their education," Ganetsky said. "It's a good chance for administrators to be influenced by a student voice. There are bigger and better things that can be done."

Despite enthusiasm from both students and administrators, the seminars are not guaranteed to produce significant results.

"The notion of student forums is one that comes and goes, but it can work," said James Rambeau, associate dean for undergraduate education. "It's very hard not to make that kind of experience and knowledge not fragmentary."

But USG and IDP hope to avoid that by producing a booklet that will include essays written by both students and teachers on issues related to the meetings.

"Sometimes everybody likes (seminars) but really nothing might come out of them," Plank said. "Our hope is that through the booklet we can keep this from being a one-time feel-good session."

Organizers plan to hold a second forum later this semester. Future topics may include technology, large classes and study skills.