The Value of the Research University Experience
Using Data to Strengthen Undergraduate and Graduate Student Success
2026 SERU Symposium and Business Meeting | October 21-22, 2026 | CU Boulder
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We are pleased to invite you to the 2026 SERU Symposium and Business Meeting, “The Value of the Research University Experience: Using Data to Strengthen Undergraduate and Graduate Student Success,” taking place on October 21-22, 2026, at the University of Colorado Boulder. This event is co-sponsored by the Graduate School at CU Boulder, the Center for Studies in Higher Education at UC Berkeley and Etio.
Research universities offer students many opportunities: learning from faculty at the top of their fields, hands-on research experience, diverse communities, and public impact. But these opportunities do not automatically translate into a strong student experience. Students need to be able to connect with these opportunities, use them, and see their value. SERU/UCUES, gradSERU, and related institutional data can help campuses understand where students are benefiting from the research university experience, where barriers remain, and what institutions can do next.
The 2026 SERU Symposium will focus on how campuses use student experience data to strengthen undergraduate and graduate student success. We are especially interested in proposals that move from data to action: what the data shows, how findings are shared, what decisions or interventions follow, and how campuses assess whether student experience improves.
Submit a Proposal
Submit a Proposal
We invite proposals that use SERU data to examine student experience at research universities. Submissions may include research findings, institutional case studies, applied practices, or examples of how campuses use data to inform decision-making.
Proposal topics may include, but are not limited to:
From SERU Data to Action. How campuses share student experience data, engage stakeholders, support department- or program-level use, build dashboards and reports, close the feedback loop with students, and translate findings into policy or practice.
Affordability and Basic Needs. How data help campuses understand financial stress, food and housing insecurity, student employment, debt concerns, time constraints, graduate funding, and the ways affordability shapes students’ ability to participate fully in academic and campus life.
AI and the Changing Student Experience. How data help campuses understand students’ use of AI, AI literacy, unequal access to tools, academic integrity concerns, and student expectations.
Advising, Mentoring, and Student Pathways. How data are used to improve advising, mentoring, degree progress, major choice, career preparation, access to research opportunities, and support for students in complex academic systems.
Wellbeing, Belonging, and Student Connection. How data help campuses understand mental health, loneliness, belonging, campus climate, peer and faculty connection, student isolation, and the links between wellbeing, engagement, and success.
Innovative Approaches to Student Experience Data. How campuses are improving the collection, analysis, communication, and use of student experience data through survey design, response rate strategies, survey governance, dashboards, open-ended responses, administrative data linkages, advising data, LMS data, student affairs data, career data, financial aid data, or other new sources of evidence.
Proposal submission form is available via this link. Submissions are due by July 15, 2026.
Symposium Venue
Symposium Venue
University Memorial Center, CU Boulder
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