The mission of the Student Experience in the Research University (SERU) project is to help improve the undergraduate experience and educational processes at research universities by generating new, longitudinal information on the undergraduate experience — via an innovative survey — to be used by administrators, policy makers and scholars. The SERU provides important information about how students of diverse backgrounds and with varying economic pressures and competing obligations organize their time, define their academic purposes, respond to the curriculum and the extra-curricular opportunities for intellectual development, and make use of the resources of the institution.
2016 is the third year of UW participation in the SERU. This longitudinal survey will provide UW faculty and administrators with ongoing information to improve academic programs and student services at the UW, and to compare our progress and share ideas with other comparable institutions.
History and purpose
The Student Engagement in the Research University (SERU) survey was created in 2002 and first used within the University of California system. Participating universities found that student responses helped faculty, staff and university leadership identify both successes and potential areas for improvement at their institutions, and in 2008 member institutions of the Association of American Universities (AAU) were invited to participate. The SERU consortium was further expanded in 2010 when the survey was opened to international members and the group now includes research universities in Asia, Europe, South America and Africa. National and international consortium members cooperate to create a longitudinal, multi-campus database on the educational experience of undergraduates at major research universities. The purpose is to promote institutional self-improvement by serving research, policy analysis and programmatic assessment needs. As a consortium member, UW has the opportunity to compare results with other institutions in the consortium, even at the program level, and the longitudinal data base is available for research purposes. For more information about the SERU and the SERU consortium, visit http://www.seru.umn.edu/.
The survey
The SERU survey is administered online to all degree-seeking undergraduate students. It provides an extensive overview of the student experience, gathering information on academic and community engagement, evaluation of the major, overall satisfaction and perceived campus climate for diversity. The survey asks students about their backgrounds, motivations and perspectives, providing insight into factors influencing student learning and development throughout their time at the UW. Where enough majors respond to the survey, a summary of the feedback regarding the major will be provided to academic programs.
Student participation is voluntary and students may elect to skip any question. All responses are confidential. Because of the importance of a high response rate, students are automatically entered into a random drawing to win one of several prizes.
Administration
The UW SERU administration is coordinated by the UW Office of Educational Assessment. If you have questions about the survey, please contact us at surveys@uw.edu.