What We’re Reading: CVP’s College Students and Voting report

It’s been 42 years since the voting age was lowered from 21 to 18 with the 26^th Amendment, yet challenges to student participation in the voting process are still prevalent.  To mark this anniversary, Campus Vote Project, a project of the Fair Elections Legal Network (and an ADP partner organization!), released “College Students and Voting: A Campus Vote Project Perspective.” The report details the challenges students faced and some of the ways those challenges were overcome in 2012. In the report, Campus Vote Project provides specific examples of some of the creative approaches from last year and what can be expected in 2013.

Over the past year Campus Vote Project has worked with administrators and student organizations on college campuses throughout the country to help students overcome a variety of barriers that often discourage them from voting. Through this experience, the project observed several trends in the student voting experience.

In 2012, young adults, ages 18-29, made up almost 19% of the electorate. While this is a slight increase from 2008, when students move to a new community to attend college they often face obstacles to voting that can drive down participation. These include:

• Not knowing voter registration rules and deadlines,
• Not having acceptable ID for voter registration or voting purposes,
• Confusion about where to vote,
• Lack of transportation to the polls, and
• Election officials or poll workers who are unaware or unsympathetic to student voting challenges.

In addition to new laws in 2011 and 2012, intimidation from elected officials and dissemination of incorrect information created barriers for students.

To overcome these challenges in 2012, students, administrators, faculty, voting rights advocates, and others worked together to educate students and provide information on deadlines, where to vote, and making sure they had the proper information so they were able to cast their ballot.

A copy of the report can be found here: http://bit.ly/ZNL46w

For more information go to: www.campusvoteproject.org

8 Myths about CIRCLE’s NSLVE: Has Your Campus Signed Up?

Back in November we shared information on this blog about CIRCLE’s new National Study on Learning, Voting and Engagement (NSLVE) in this blog post. A number of ADP campuses have since signed up to participate in this free study (no survey completion required). The deadline to participate is March 15, but ADP campuses are being given a one-week extension until March 22!

CIRCLE has revised their FAQ – it’s still long, but it’s clear.  And they’ve streamlined the process, recommending that campuses sign up for the basic study before the March 15 deadline, and then worry about whether they want to participate in a special study or tailor the data fields considered.

CIRCLE also contacted campuses to learn what barriers might prevent their participation.  Based on those responses, they are doing some “myth-busting.”  Here are a few things that CIRCLE heard, and their response to these concerns:

We don’t have time/don’t want to run another survey or assessment.

You don’t have to!  This is NOT a survey.

We don’t want to send CIRCLE our student list.

You don’t.  You send the authorization form to the National Clearinghouse, which already has your list, and they add voting records, de-identify it, and send it to us.

The system seems to protect student privacy.  Does it really?

It’s hard not to say to everyone, “trust us!”  But we worked hard with FERPA lawyers up and down the east coast, and it took us nearly four months to get it right. We don’t want to know who your students are or how an individual voted.  We want to study aggregate rates and patterns and give campuses interesting data..

We need IRB approval.

We can’t speak for individual campuses, but only one campus so far has felt the need to seek an exemption from their IRB.  Why?  Because CIRCLE will be working from de-identified lists. Reports contain aggregate data, not student lists (de-identified or not).

It’s hard to figure out who should sign the form.

Here’s who can sign: presidents, provosts, vice presidents, institutional researchers, and enrollment officers.  We’re keeping track of who signs most, and right now, it’s a dead heat between student affairs officers and institutional researchers.

We don’t want to deal with it now.  We’ll wait for the next round.

Campuses won’t get 2012 numbers for comparison if they wait.  It’s the comparisons with 2014 and 2016 that will make this information really valuable.

March 15 is too soon.  We can’t pull it off.

You have plenty of time  to download the form, find the right person to sign it, and follow the instructions for submission on the bottom.  The average turnaround, based on downloads-to-submission data, is three days. And ADP campuses are being given an extension until March 22!

We can’t just sign this.  We have to read everything and understand it.  And it’s complicated, and no one has the time.

Join an upcoming info session.  There’s one a week, and they run around 30 minutes, give or take a few.  Or email Nancy Thomas (nancy dot thomas at tufts dot edu) with questions. She’s happy to chat with campuses one-on-one.

What We’re Reading: Circle Working Paper #75

By Stephanie South, Program Associate, AASCU

To coincide with its recent announcement regarding the formation of a nonpartisan and scholarly Commission on Youth Voting & Civic Knowledge, CIRCLE has re-released a November 2012 summary of existing research entitled, “Voting Laws, Education, and Youth Civic Engagement: A Literature Review.”

This working paper serves as an example of the kind of research CIRCLE will provide to the Commission and the public. Sample of findings include:

• Civic education boosts knowledge and engagement.
• Election officials and agencies may be effective civic educators.
• Making registration and voting more convenient has a modest impact on turnout.

For more information on the commission and updates on its work, click here.

CIRCLE announces new National Study on Learning, Voting, and Engagement

By Stephanie South, Intern, American Democracy Project

The election is over, and by all accounts, young people turned out to vote at higher rates—at least 1% higher—than in 2008. We’re energized by our member campuses’ dedication, from registering and mobilizing voters to hosting mock debates and watch parties. Looking ahead to the next election, the American Democracy Project is already discussing how we’re going to support student political knowledge and engagement.

So we’re particularly excited to share with campuses a new project that offers colleges and universities the chance to measure student registration and voting rates and to study the effectiveness of educational programs designed to increase civic learning and engagement in democracy. ADP member campuses are invited to participate in  NSLVE—the National Study on Learning, Voting, and Engagement—a new research initiative designed by our friends at the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE).

Despite the fact that voting is a fundamental indicator of civic engagement, there have been no reliable ways to measure student voting rates. NSLVE fills that gap. It’s free and carefully designed to ensure student privacy. For more information and to sign up to be part of NSLVE, visit its site here. This FAQ page may also address some of your questions.

Our hope is that all ADP campuses will participate in NSLVE. Not only will it provide a baseline for measuring voter turnout in future years and comparisons among ADP campuses and with non-ADP campuses, but some campuses will be able to participate in tailored studies correlating specific academic programs, courses, and activities with student voting rates. (Note: NSLVE will compile voting rates by institution, study comparisons, and report trends and patterns in aggregate numbers. They may identify your campus as a participating institution, but will not disclose your institution’s data.)

ADP Research: IUSB’s Elizabeth Bennion on effect of E-Mail Outreach on Voter Registration

Elizabeth Bennion, faculty member and ADP Campus Coordinator from Indiana University South Bend and her co-author David Nickerson, have published an article in Political Research Quarterly. The article is based on an research study involving 26 American Democracy Project campuses.

“The Cost of Conviencence: An Experiment Showing E-Mail Outreach Decreases Voter Registration” suggests that classroom-based registration is much more effective than email-based outreach. Although e-mail registration appeals proved ineffective (see article), student registration rates rose by 10% following professor-led presentations and by 9% following peer-led presentations on 16 AASCU campuses following a fully-randomized experimental protocol for classroom-based voter registration. Another article on their classroom findings is forthcoming.

The Cost of Convenience: An Experiment Showing E-Mail Outreach Decreases Voter Registration
By Elizabeth A. Bennion & David W. Nickerson

Abstract

Lower transaction costs have shifted voter registration activities online and away from traditional modes of outreach. Downloading forms may impose higher transaction costs than traditional outreach for some people and thereby decrease electoral participation. A randomized, controlled experiment tested this hypothesis by encouraging treatment participants via e-mail to use online voter registration tools. The treatment group was 0.3 percentage points less likely to be registered to vote after the election. A follow-up experiment sent reminders via text message to randomly selected people who had downloaded registration forms. The treatment increased rates of registration by 4 percentage points, suggesting that reminders can ameliorate many of the negative effects of directing people to downloadable online registration forms.

Keywords
voter registration, e-mail, online, mobilization, civic participation, experiment, procrastination

Published online before print September 24, 2010, doi: 10.1177/1065912910382304 Political Research Quarterly December 2011 vol. 64 no. 4 858-869

Partner Spotlight: NCoC’s new Issue Brief “Civic Health & Unemployment II: The Case Builds”

Better Civic Health means Lower Unemployment

Civic Health and Unemployment II: The Case Builds is the National Conference on Citizenship (NCoC)’s latest issue brief. This 2012 Issue Brief explores the relationship between civic engagement and economic resilience. It finds that the density and type of nonprofit organizations in a community, as well as its social cohesion (the level at which citizens trust, talk to and help neighbors and socialize with family and friends), are important predictors of that community’s ability to withstand unemployment in a recession.

“Civic Health and Unemployment II: The Case Builds” is released by NCoC in partnership with the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation with research by CIRCLE (the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement), Civic Enterprises, and Saguaro Seminar.

This brief is a continuation of research that began in 2011 with a brief called “Civic Health and Unemployment: Can Engagement Strengthen the Economy?” That brief found that five measures of civic engagement – attending meetings, helping neighbors, registering to vote, volunteering and voting – appear to help protect against unemployment and contribute to overall economic resilience. See the related 2011 brief.
The research will be presented this week in Philadelphia during the National Conference on Citizenship’s 67th annual conference, which brings together civic leaders, educators, CEOs and government representatives to address issues related to our nation’s civic health.

Viewers can watch the conference, including the announcement of the winners via livestream from 1-5:30 p.m. ET on Friday, Sept. 14th. There will be a panel exploring the link between civic engagement and employment at 1:45 p.m ET.

To join the conversation on Twitter, follow @NCoC and @CivicData and the hashtag #NCoC, or on its Facebook page. The conference will include questions from Twitter followers as part of the conference.

Authors: Kei Kawashima-Ginsberg (CIRCLE), Chaeyoon Lim (University of Wisconsin) and Peter Levine (CIRCLE).

Table of Contents

• 1 – Introduction
• 2 – Executive Summary
• 3 – Evidence Builds that Civic Health Protects Against Unemployment
• 4 – Specific Findings: The Number and Type of Nonprofit Organizations Predict Resilience to Unemployment
• 5 – Specific Findings: Social Cohesion Also Predicts Resilience Against Unemployment
• 6 – Explaining Some Causal Mechanisms: Some Possibilities
• 7 – Conclusion
• 8 – Technical Notes
• 9 – Glossary of Terms and Data Sources
• 10 – Endnotes

Suggested citation for this publication:
National Conference on Citizenship. Civic Health and Unemployment II: The Case Builds, Washington DC. 2012, September.

What We’re Reading: Core Competencies in Civic Engagement and the Bibliography Project

As we focus more on the specific civic knowledge, skills, dispositions and experiences needed to prepare the next generation of citizens for our democracy, the Center for Engaged Democracy at Merrimack College has released a working policy paper: Core Competencies in Civic Engagement. I encourage each of you to read and consider contributing to this effort to identify the essential civic competencies that higher education should be ensuring students develop in college. I also encourage you to contribute to the complementary Bibliography Project, a repository of civic engagement-focused readings that can be incorporated in college courses. You might also want to take a look at the syllabi repository.

- Jen Domagal-Goldman, ADP National Manager

Core Competencies in Civic Engagement and the Bibliography Project

The Center for Engaged Democracy recently held its 3^rd annual research institute on The Future of Community Engagement in Higher Education. Over 70 individuals from around the United States and Canada participated in an incredibly dynamic and informative two days of sessions and dialogues.

Several key initiatives included the launch of a Working Policy Paper “Core Competencies in Civic Engagement” (that reviewed and synthesized key competencies of national-level reports, a literature review, and almost 30 academic civic engagement programs — e.g., civic minors — around the country) and the development of a Bibliography Project (that compiled and annotated key texts used in courses within several dozen academic programs in Community Engagement). You can see all of the session materials and syllabi on the Center for Engaged Democracy’s WikiSpace site. The Center will be following up on these and other initiatives in the coming months, including:

• Offering a pre-session at IARSLCE on the research and practice of academic programs (certificates, minors, and majors) in Community Engagement.
• Next steps (dialogues, collaborations, and research) with national organizations and academic programs around the just released “Core Competencies in Civic Engagement“
• RFPs for individuals and teams on research and policies related to academic programs in Community Engagement.

ETS Study Shows How Colleges Can Help Students Become Active Voters

This is a re-post of a blog story that originally appeared on the blog of the Fair Elections Legal Network (FELN). FELN’s nonpartisan Campus Vote Project (CVP) is a partner and friend of ADP. Take a look at this summary of the new ETS report Fault Lines in Our Democracy: Civic Knowledge, Voting Behavior, and Civic Engagement in the United States. Dan Vicuna, the author of this blog story and CVP’s Coordinator will be at the ADP National Meeting in San Antonio. If you’d like to meet with him to learn more about CVP and how to connect your campus work with CVP, you can email him at dvicuna@campusvoteproject.org. CVP will also have a table at the Campus and Friends Showcase on Saturday, June 9 from 11:30 am – 12:30 pm.

As you gear up to register students for the November 2012 elections, make sure to check out CVP’s Campus Vote Project toolkit and other resources!

– Jen Domagal-Goldman, ADP National Manager

ETS Study Shows How Colleges Can Help Students Become Active Voters

By: Dan Vicuna, Coordinator of FELN’s Campus Vote Project

An Educational Testing Service (ETS) study on education and civic engagement demonstrates the role that colleges and universities can play in helping students become active and informed voters. The study suggests that many students arrive at college with limited knowledge of civics. For example, ETS found that only about one-quarter of American students in 4^th, 8^th, and 12^th grade achieved a “proficient” designation in civics, a level demonstrating solid academic performance. The study’s authors argue that voter turnout is likely to suffer as a result of this academic shortfall.

The study also examined the importance of establishing voting as a habit. ETS found that a young adult who voted in the 2004 election was 30 percent more likely to vote in the 2006 election than a young adult who did not vote in 2004. The authors concluded that voting in 2004 “played the most powerful role in voting in 2006.”

ETS argues that colleges and universities “can play a more active role in encouraging voting and civic participation at all levels by their students.” By helping students overcome the barriers to registration and voting that disproportionately affect them, colleges can set their students on a lifelong path of active civic engagement.

Colleges can implement reforms detailed in the Campus Vote Project toolkit to ensure that students have access to registration and voting information. For example, schools can increase understanding of the issues at stake by organizing election awareness campaigns. Administrators can also support student-run voter registration blitzes and organize student poll worker programs to encourage active participation in the 2012 elections.

For more information on the ways that FELN’s Campus Vote Project can work with your school to increase student participation in this year’s elections, contact Dan Vicuna at (202) 331-0114 or info@campusvoteproject.org.

_____

Re-posted from FELN’s blog; see the original post here.

Civic Data Challenge Turns Raw Data into Beautiful Community Tools

Believe that communities can take better advantage of key data in their decision making? Want to analyze civic data sets as part of your research or as a course project? Check out ADP partner NCoC’s new Civic Data Challenge!

This week the first-ever Civic Data Challenge launched at the Data 2.0 Summit in San Francisco. It’s a project of ADP partner NCoC (the National Conference on Citizenship) that will bring new eyes, new minds, new findings, and new skill sets to the field of civic health.

The Challenge will turn the raw data of “civic health” into beautiful, useful applications and visualizations, enabling communities to be better understood and made to thrive. NCoC is opening up its data, as well as other data on the important topics of health, safety, education, and the economy.

You’re invited to collaborate with others, analyze the data, and create something amazing to showcase what you find. Designers, data scientists, researchers, and app developers are especially encouraged to join the challenge. And … there will be prizes!

The Challenge opened to the public on April 3 and entries must be received by July 29. Winners will be announced at the 67th Annual National Conference on Citizenship on September 14 in Philadelphia.

The Challenge is presented by NCoC (the National Conference on Citizenship) in partnership with the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. NCoC and Knight Foundation hope the Challenge will uncover new findings on why community engagement and attachment are critical to building thriving communities.

Join the challenge! http://bit.ly/civdata

Like the Civic Data Challenge on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/CivicDataChallenge and follow it on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/civicdata.