SERU Project Launches Spring University of California UG Experience Survey

CSHE > News > SERU Project Launches Spring University of California UG Experience Survey

May 15, 2008

In collaboration with each of the nine undergraduate campuses of the University of California, the CSHE based Student Experience in the Research University (SERU) Project is administering the 4th census survey of 162,300 undergraduates in the UC system. The University of California Undergraduate Experience Survey is an innovative, census survey focused on generating information on the diverse background of students at UC, their academic development and experiences, and their civic engagement over time. The last census administration of the UC system was in spring 2006.

Students are now being asked to complete the survey by visiting: www.universityofcalifornia.edu/ucues

The SERU Project, which proposed, developed, and administers the UCwide survey in collaboration with the Office of Student Research at UC Berkeley and the UC Office of the President, promotes the use of survey data for both policy relevant and scholarly use.

The survey is unique in that it is structured to learn more about students who are enrolled in research universities and includes a census design that links into existing University of California data. UCUES data is currently used in academic department review at campuses such as Berkeley, and in WASC accreditation of UC campuses, in reports to the UC Board of Regents and to lawmakers.

The SERU Project recently held a full-day research symposium and is generating studies on, for example, the immigrant student experience, the role of research in the undergraduate education, new perspectives on affordability for lower income students, the role of diversity in educational outcomes, and the different academic experiences of students related to their major and aspirations.

For more information on:

The SERU Project and UCUES, see:
http://cshe.berkeley.edu/research/seru/

The 2008 SERU/UCUES Research Symposium, see http://cshe.berkeley.edu/events/serusymposium2008/

Recent SERU Project research papers, see:
http://cshe.berkeley.edu/research/seru/papers.htm

The SERU Research Team includes Steve Chatman (SERU/UCUES Project Director), Steven Brint (Professor of Sociology UC Riverside), Gregg Thomson (Director of the Office of Student Research UC Berkeley), Richard Flacks (Professor of Sociology UC Santa Barbara), and John Aubrey Douglass (CSHE Senior Research Fellow UC Berkeley).

CONTACT:
Steve Chatman
SERU/UCUES Project Director and CSHE Senior Researcher
Center for Studies in Higher Education and Office of Student Research - UC Berkeley
steve_chatman@berkeley.edu