Penn State Intercollegiate Athletics has a plan to improve its fundraising.

The athletic department announced yesterday a campaign to raise $100 million, which it hopes will keep the department financially independent from the university.

"In the constantly evolving landscape of intercollegiate athletics, we simply cannot maintain our tradition of success in the classroom and on the playing field without private support," Penn State President Graham Spanier said in a press release. "That's why we have made this campaign one of the university's top fund-raising priorities."

The campaign, titled "Success with Honor, A campaign for the Penn State Way," is expected to be a five-year project. Funding will go toward athletic scholarships, coaches' endowments, advising, sports medicine and facility upgrades.

The five-year campaign has just finished its first year, or "quiet phase," and is now starting the public effort phase.

Penn State Athletic Director Tim Curley did not return phone calls from The Daily Collegian yesterday.

The Centre Daily Times reported in yesterday's editions that funding for a new baseball stadium might be among the plans to improve university playing fields.

A partnership between the university and the owners of the Pittsburgh Pirates' Class AA affiliate Altoona Curve would allow a new field to be built at University Park and both Penn State and an A-league team would be allowed to use it.

Funding will come partly from the university, which has said it will contribute $5 million toward the project, and from the Curve, which will pay the rest of the $15 million tab. If the Curve doesn't come through with the funding, the $5 million will go toward renovating Beaver Field, the paper reported.

Funding will also increase for The Morgan Academic Support Center for Student Athletes (MASCA), which provides advising and tutoring for Nittany Lion athletes.

Russell Mushinsky, MASCA director, said the money will help finance improvement to the services that the center already provides, including new professional advisers.

"We are going to expand a lot of the different programs that we provide to the student-athlete," Mushinsky said. "This type of campaign will help to endow money into improving our advising."

The last area the funds would cover is the Sports Medicine Center, which provides university athletes medical services and is also open to the public.

The Milton S. Hershey Medical Center and Penn State Orthopedics, both part of the medicine center, will receive funding to help with staff, equipment acquisitions and program support.

There are also eight facilities projected for renovation, including a new softball field, wrestling facility, indoor tennis center and a golf club house for the varsity golf team.

"We focus on top coaching, academic support, life skills training and financial assistance to give our student-athletes the well-rounded experience they need to succeed while they're at the university and in later life," Curley said in a press release yesterday. "When students choose Penn State, they make a choice for integrity and sportsmanship -- they've chosen to strive for success with honor."

"We want to continue supporting our varsity sports programs," Penn State associate athletic director for marketing and development John Powell said. "We will raise the money with the help of the people who have donated to the athletic department before."

Minimum scholarship endowment amounts range from $50,000 to $300,000, depending on the level of support the donor wishes to choose.

The funding program will cover 29 different varsity sports -- 15 men's and 14 women's -- and donations will pay about 25 percent of all expenses.