UF leads Pitt, Michigan and Minnesota in SERU survey responses

April 10, 2009

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The University of Florida leads participating universities in the percentage of surveys completed in the Student Experience in the Research University, or SERU, survey now under way on campus.

As of this week, 30.6 percent of UF students have responded, followed closely by the University of Pittsburgh at 26.2 percent, University of Michigan at 14.1 percent, and University of Minnesota at 13 percent.

SERU is an online survey designed to broaden understanding of the undergraduate experience at selected research universities.

“We all thought it would be fun to see who could reach the highest percentage of undergraduate students surveyed,” said Marie Zeglen, assistant provost and director of Institutional Planning and Research and the SERU project leader. ”UF was the first to reach 30 percent participation. This is an opportunity for The Gator Nation to be the champions yet again, so all our undergraduates need to go to ISIS and SERU.”

Results from the survey will be compared with those of the other universities in an effort to evaluate and strengthen the student experience at UF.

The SERU survey is an online evaluation for all enrolled UF undergraduates. SERU originally was developed for the University of California System by the UC Berkeley Center for Studies in Higher Education. This is the first year for SERU to be administered at UF. The survey takes approximately 20 minutes to complete and may be accessed through the ISIS system.

Each student who completes the survey receives a buy-one, get-one-free offer of admission to the Florida Museum of Natural History Butterfly Rainforest and is eligible for other rewards. Incentives are distributed daily. To date, more than 75 students have earned rewards. More information about the survey is available at http://www.aa.ufl.edu/SERU/.