Learning and Academic Engagement in the Multiversity: Student Experience in the Research University--21st Century (SERU21) Project. Results of the First University of California Undergraduate Experience Survey

During the spring of 2002 and 2003, a team of faculty and institutional researchers conducted an innovative web-based survey on the undergraduate experience at all eight undergraduate campuses of the University of California. This report provides the first formal presentation of preliminary findings from that survey and discusses potential areas of relevance to policy for further research. The University of California Undergraduate Experience Survey (UCUES) is part of a larger collaborative project entitled "The Student Experience in the Research University--21st Century" (SERU21). SERU21 is based at the Center for Studies in Higher Education on the UC Berkeley campus with collaborators from each of the undergraduate campuses of the University of California and the UC Office of the President. It is intended that this report and subsequent surveys and analysis will stimulate discussion among UC faculty, students, and administrators about: (1) How to improve the undergraduate experience at the University of California; (2) Possible integration of UCUES into accountability and program review processes, such as accreditation; and (3) Further research into the nature and causes of academic engagement and disengagement, and how underlying differences in students' backgrounds affect their learning experience. Appendices include: (1) Research Team and Oversight Committee; and (2) Response Rates. (Contains 51 figures and 2 endnotes.)