Student Experience in the Research University (SERU)

Student Experience in the Research University (SERU)

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Photographs © 2003 by Alan Nyiri; courtesy of the Atkinson Photographic Archive

The SERU Project is a collaborative study focused on developing new types of data and innovative policy relevant scholarly analyses on the academic and civic experience of students at major research universities. The project’s initial focus is on the burgeoning ten-campus University of California system.

Based at the Center for Studies in Higher Education at UC Berkeley, SERU is a collaborative project between academic and institutional researchers, and includes the development and administration of the University of California Undergraduate Experience Survey (UCUES).

The objective of the SERU project, and UCUES, is twofold: one, to develop new data that can assist policy development and improve the undergraduate experience; and two, to create a new resource to help promote scholarly research and reflection in this field. More broadly, the University of California, with its eight and soon to be nine undergraduate campuses, is viewed as a large laboratory for investigating the changing nature of undergraduate education in the American research university. UCUES data and analysis are used in Program Review and Campus Accreditation processes at UC, in reviews of UC Admissions Criteria, and in reports to the UC Board of Regents, state lawmakers, administrators, faculty, and current and prospective students