In an effort to make it easier for students to fit going abroad into their academic plans, Dean of the Faculty William C. Kirby has placed the Study Abroad Office under the jurisdiction of the dean of undergraduate education.

The move from the Office of Career Services (OCS), which went into effect last month, was one of Kirby’s first decisions since he took over as dean on July 1.

Moving the Study Abroad Office was one of several recommendations for study abroad reform made in a March report co-authored by Kirby and William L. Fash, who is the chair of the Faculty Standing Committee on Study out of Residence.

Only about 10 percent of Harvard students go abroad while undergraduates, a figure that Kirby and others in the University hope to see increase.

“Our hope, simply put, was to reduce the perceived hindrances for students who wished to study abroad, and, in time, to make international study an important part of a Harvard education for a larger number of students,” Kirby wrote in an e-mail.

Study abroad at Harvard has been targeted for reform ever since University President Lawrence H. Summers declared his support for international learning in his inauguration speech last October.

The recent move follows two major changes to study abroad procedures that were approved by the Faculty in May.

The Faculty approved a “two-track system” in which students going abroad will be able either to choose from a list of pre-approved courses, or to develop their own plan of study as they do now.

They also voted that students should no longer be required to take a year of classes in their host country’s language before going abroad.

Additional efforts to help students study abroad are in the works.

According to Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education Jeffrey Wolcowitz, the Faculty Standing Committee on the Core Curriculum will work this fall on allowing coursework done abroad to count for Core requirements other than Foreign Cultures—which is currently the only requirement that students can fulfill away from Harvard.

And in an effort to help students meet concentration requirements abroad, the Committee on Study out of Residence, which reviews petitions to study abroad, and the office of the dean of undergraduate education will ask the various concentrations to be more active in encouraging foreign study, Wolcowitz said.

Concentrations will be asked to identify international programs appropriate to their area of study and to inform students how to fit in a term of study abroad, even if they wish to study outside of Harvard to pursue an interest outside their concentration, Wolcowitz wrote in an e-mail.

In addition, international internship and work opportunities will also be worked in as possible for-credit experiences, Wolcowitz said.

The Study Abroad Office will probably be given a new home in Harvard Yard this fall, but for the moment the office will stay at OCS’ Dunster Street location, according to Wolcowitz. He also said he expects the size of the office’s staff and budget to increase in the near future.