Challenges for Research Universities: Topical Issues Related to the Student Experience

The Student Experience in the Research University (SERU) Consortium will hold its 5th SERU Research Symposium on April 30 at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill campus. The SERU Consortium is based at UC Berkeley’s Center for Studies in Higher Education.

Representatives from each of the 17 research universities that make up the Consortium will participate - including the nine undergraduate campuses of the University of California, along with the AAU Universities of Michigan, Minnesota, Florida, North Carolina, Texas, Rutgers, Pittsburgh, and Oregon.

This year's theme is the Challenges for Research Universities, and focused on four major areas:

• Affordability and Rising Costs: The Effects on Student Academic Performance and Persistence
• Campus Climate: Assessing the Validity of Critical Mass and Other Variables
• Undergraduate Success in STEM and other Disciplines
• International and Out-of-State Students: Their Integration and Academic Engagement