The Center for Studies in Higher Education (CSHE) at the University of California, Berkeley announces an institute, to be held in the summer of 2012. This institute, known as the Clark Kerr Institute, is targeted for higher education leaders from around the world, including the United States, and will take place on the Berkeley campus.

The Clark Kerr Institute focuses on the essential characteristics of major research universities in the United States with particular emphasis on the University of California as a case study, and linking Institute programs with CSHE based policy research. The nature of higher education in California and the California Master Plan for Higher Education provide important background relating to access to higher education, overall structure, and budgetary effectiveness and efficiency.

This Institute will target internal university governance and management that makes possible the creation and maintenance of the world’s top research universities. Topics will include strategic planning, university governance at the multi-campus and campus levels, faculty participation in governance, tenure, admissions, access for all elements of society, academic planning, accomplishing change, and starting new campuses. The Institute will also discuss the university’s role in national and regional economic development, its service to society, the structure and culture for technological innovation in California and elsewhere, mutually beneficial University-industry interactions, technology transfer, and the university as a catalyst for social and economic development.

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Participation by the SERU International Consortium Conference is by invitation. For more information contact John Douglass at douglass@berkeley.edu

The Student Experience in the Research University (SERU) – International Consortium will hold its first conference in October 2012 with a global focus on the state of undergraduate education in various parts of the world and reform initiatives intended to improve student engagement and outcomes.

Objectives - The SERU-International Conference will:

a) Provide the first opportunity for the SERU-International Consortium members to share results from the SERU-I Survey, examine cultural differences and similarities, and further develop survey content and a research agenda focused on institutional improvement.
b) Offer a venue to develop an environmental scan of undergraduate reform efforts in key areas of the world, their objectives, and how they are fairing.
c) Offer a discussion on what the ideals of the research university in undergraduate education are and how we might seek an analytical framework to help improve the student experience.
d) Provide an opportunity to engage with other top national universities interested in joining the SERU-I Consortium.

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