The 2025 SERU Symposium and Business Meeting, “Navigating Uncertainty: Using Data to Improve the Student Experience in an Evolving Higher Education Landscape,” took place on October 22–23, 2025, at the University of California, Berkeley. This event was co-sponsored by the Center for Studies in Higher Education at UC Berkeley and Etio.

The symposium focused on how universities can use SERU/UCUES and gradSERU data to help students navigate multiple layers of uncertainty in their academic and career pathways. As students face a rapidly changing job market, the rise of generative AI, and an increasingly complex political and cultural climate, research universities are being called to respond with strategies that are not only evidence-based but also student-centered. In addition, the symposium explored strategies to improve student survey response rates, strengthen stakeholder engagement, and enhance data dissemination – all essential for facilitating future survey administrations.