Jennelle Malcos promoted to associate dean for undergraduate education
Jennelle Malcos, teaching professor of biology and assistant dean for undergraduate students, has been promoted to associate dean for undergraduate education in the Penn State Eberly College of Science.
Malcos has served on the University Faculty Senate for several years, is the college representative on the University’s Administrative Council for Undergraduate Education, and currently has active research focused on student self-regulated learning in science courses. She has also led the college’s Learning Assistant Program — one of the largest such efforts in the country. Since its launch in 2012, the program has grown from 81 LA positions in five courses to about 800 positions each academic year in over 40 courses.
With her promotion to associate dean, Malcos will have oversight of the undergraduate mission within the college. This includes all aspects of undergraduate education, from admissions and recruiting, scholarships, academic advising, and programming and engagement to commencement and graduation. She is also responsible for undergraduate teaching and curriculum, which includes overseeing the Cada R. and Susan Wynn Grove Center for Excellence in Science Education and its LA Program.
“Excellence in undergraduate education in the Eberly College of Science is a longstanding commitment to all students that chose Penn State,” Malcos said. “I am most excited to work with the instructors, advisers, and staff members already engaged in student learning and holistic success to continue growing this priority.”
“Jennelle started as assistant dean for undergraduate students in January 2024 and subsequently stepped up in April 2024 as a leader for all undergraduate education in the college,” said Mary Beth Williams, acting dean of the Eberly College of Science. “She has supported students and focused on their successes while stepping into a larger portfolio of responsibility that she will now continue to lead as associate dean, overseeing both the Office for Undergraduate Students and the college’s undergraduate curriculum as well as our Grove Center portfolio supporting innovative instruction. I look forward to seeing her thrive in her continued dedication to the college and our undergraduate students.”
Malcos earned her doctorate in plant physiology from Penn State in 2009 and her bachelor of science in biology from Canisius College in 2003. Prior to her current roles, she served in the college as an academic adviser and in the biology department as a teaching faculty member.
Malcos received the George W. Atherton Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching in 2015, was recognized as one of the most highly rated faculty in the Eberly College of Science for several introductory-level biology courses in 2011 and 2012, and received the First-Year Experience Faculty Appreciation Award from 2010 to 2013. She received the Eberly College of Science Dean’s Climate and Diversity Award in 2011 and was inducted into the National Residence Hall Honorary as a faculty member in 2012 for her work with Penn State’s BIOME Living Learning Community. She has presented her research at the Human Anatomy and Physiology Society, the American Educational Research Association, and the American Psychological Association annual conferences.