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2011 STUDENT EXPERIENCE IN THE RESEARCH UNIVERSITY (SERU): THE ULTIMATE STUDENT SURVEY

A project sponsored by the Office of the President, the Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost, and the Division of Student Affairs

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BACKGROUND

Developed by UC-Berkeley Center for Studies in Higher Education

Administered online in the UC from 2002-present

Focused on understanding student experience at large research universities

Designed as longitudinal study using census of all undergraduates

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RECENT HISTORY

Research institutions outside UC began participation in 2008

Other institutions include: Rutgers, U Florida, U Michigan, U Minnesota, U Oregon, U Pittsburgh

UT Austin first participated in 2010

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SERU AT UT AUSTIN

Sponsored by the Office of the President, the Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost, and the Division of Student Affairs

UT joined the project late in 2009 Did not have as much time to prepare as we

would have liked

UT signed a 3-year contract with UC-Berkeley AY 2010-2011 is Year 2

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SPRING 2010 SERU PILOT RESULTS

21% of students answered initial questions (n=7,365), however only 15% of students persisted through the entire instrument

Representativeness Good representation by ethnicity and

college Over-representation of females Under-representation of Freshmen

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SPRING 2010 SERU PILOT RESULTS

Website for results: www.utexas.edu/seru

Areas covered include: Time allocation Academic and Personal Development Academic Engagement Evaluation of the Major Cost of Education Background Information Campus Climate for Diversity Family Education Levels

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SPRING 2010 SERU SAMPLEFINDINGS

83% were satisfied* with the variety of courses available in their major

92% were satisfied* with the quality of upper division courses in their major

91% were satisfied* with their access to faculty outside of class

Most important factors in deciding on their major: (1) Interest in subject area (2) Intellectual curiosity (3) Preparation for a fulfilling career

*Satisfied = somewhat satisfied + satisfied + very satisfied

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SPRING 2010 SERU SAMPLEFINDINGS

91% agree* that they feel they belong at this campus

90% are satisfied** with their overall academic experience

86% are satisfied** with the value of the education for the price they’re paying

86% say that faculty provide prompt and useful feedback on student work (% “yes”)

*Agree = somewhat agree + agree + strongly agree**Satisfied = somewhat satisfied + satisfied + very satisfied

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PLANS FOR 2011

Launch date was Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Over 35,000 undergraduate students will be invited to participate via email

Non-respondents will be re-contacted weekly Some by contacts within Colleges/Schools

Response rates will be updated regularly and posted online College Competitions planned

We hope to end data collection after Spring Break

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RESPONSE RATE

Getting a much higher response rate is critical

Higher response allows us to drill down to the academic program level

Higher response allows us to follow individual students longitudinally through their UT careers

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MARKETING Kick-off planned the first week of February Banners and tables scheduled periodically

throughout the first six weeks Student support via SG and Senate Articles in Daily Texan Facebook and Twitter Videos on TV monitors Incentives: iPad, $250 toward books x 4,

and tickets to basketball, baseball games

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YOUR HELP IS IMPORTANT Encourage your students to complete the survey

Enlist student participation via your department’s newsletter and/or email system

Tell your colleagues about the survey

Talk about the college competition – keep track of college response rates (www.utexas.edu/seru/responses.html)

Talk it up!

Contact us for results or for more information

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FOR MORE INFORMATION

Website for 2010 results:www.utexas.edu/seru

Lauren Ratliff, Research Associate, Office of the PresidentLauren_ratliff@yahoo.com(512)232-8280

Gale Stuart, Ph.D., Director of Assessment, Division of Student AffairsGale.Stuart@austin.utexas.edu(512)232-9608

Thank you!