In the last month, Seth Morton has been play-testing a massive multiplayer game online. He tests the functionality, reports bugs and even makes suggestions for changes.

For about 10 hours a week, the undergraduate student is an integral part of the development of "Ink," a game designed to improve players' writing skills.

Morton is a research assistant to David Sheridan, director of the MSU Writing Center. The two are part of the Undergraduate Research Initiative, which is in its first semester.

"It's a really great way for students to work with faculty members to get an inside look at the kind of work academics do and how it fits within the academic community and the East Lansing community," said Morton, an English junior.

The initiative is comprised of 30 undergraduate students, who mostly work one-on-one with professors on a research project, Janet Swenson, associate dean of undergraduate academic affairs in the College of Arts and Letters, wrote in an e-mail.

Students are paid about $10 per hour for their research work.

"Once we've proven the effectiveness of the project, we think some students will probably want an opportunity to participate whether they are paid or not," Swenson said. "Much as students do in unpaid internships or job shadowing."

Sheridan said he decided to participate because it would be good experience for an undergraduate student. He had Morton in mind when the project began.

"He also works at the Writing Center, so I've been working with him for a long time," Sheridan said. "But not in this capacity."

Morton is a digital writing consultant at the Writing Center. He helps not only with traditional writing assignments, but also with digital writing assignments incorporated with digital video, Web sites and PowerPoint.

Which is why Morton was perfect for working with "Ink." The game, accessible through any Web browser, takes place in a city center. It has a government, "the City Council," which consists of players elected by other players. Problems arise within the city structure, which require players' writing skills to correct. Sometimes players have to write draft resolutions for citizens at meetings; other times they need to write brochures to explain reasons to vote for proposals.

"Dave Sheridan, knowing I had an interest in things like narrative structure and literary theories, as well as my technical skills, asked if I wanted to be part of this project," Morton said. "It fit nicely with some of my interests in the English program.

"We have a good understanding of how each other works, and we're a really good team when it comes to getting things done."

Before developing the project, Swenson looked at undergraduate research programs at the universities of Wisconsin, California-Berkeley and Michigan. She said gaining experience such as this may even help students get into the graduate schools of their choice.

"Although we can't make any guarantees, I imagine that many reviewers would find students' descriptions of their research activity impressive," Swenson said.

Though he is only doing the preliminary search, Morton said he would like to go to graduate school after he receives his bachelor's degree.

"I'm looking at programs in philosophy right now that allow me to bring in some of my experiences in English and literature studies, as well as my interest in philosophy," he said.

He said in the long run, he'd like to take his work at MSU to the graduate level, and continue community work through academia.

Most projects will be completed by the end of the semester, Swenson said. However, some students may stop working on the projects, but the research will continue.

This is likely the case for Sheridan and Morton. "Ink" does not have a set debut date yet, but Sheridan hopes it will be completed in the next six months.

Once released, the game will be given to educators for nonprofit and educational purposes.

For the pair, the experience has provided insight.

Sheridan said Morton's contributions have been valuable and helpful to the game. However, he hopes the project can eventually expand.

"I could use another researcher — I could keep Seth busy 20 hours a week," he said. "There's no end of work to do."

Morton said the best part may be a few weeks away when they start putting focus groups together.

"I'm really looking forward to working with students in some of these focus groups," he said. "A lot of my research right now has been preparing for this."

They haven't figured out which students will comprise the focus group yet, Morton said, but they are looking at WRA classes, people who work at the Writing Center and possibly local high school students.

Swenson said the provost's office will increase its financial support for undergraduate research.

Permanency of the project is something Morton hopes for, and he said students who are interested in scholarly work can benefit from research of this kind.

"I think anybody interested in getting a different perspective in how a university works and the work that scholars do, (that) this is a really great opportunity," he said. "Especially in the College of Arts and Letters, people don't always have the best understanding of what we really do.

"This research is one way of presenting to the community that kind of work."