To view the Help America Vote College Program recipients, please click the appropriate year below.
2010 Help America Vote College Program Recipients
- Alverno College, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
- Benedictine University, Lisle, Illinois
- Central Connecticut State University, Hartford, Connecticut
- College of the Canyons, Santa Clarita, California
- Harris-Stowe State University, St. Louis, Missouri
- Keystone College, La Plume, Pennsylvania
- Kids Voting of Central Ohio, Columbus, Ohio
- Kutztown University, Kutztown, Pennsylvania
- Lourdes College, Sylvania, Ohio
- Marshall-Wythe Law School Foundation, Williamsburg, Virginia
- Morehouse College, Atlanta, Georgia
- Southern Utah University, Cedar City, Utah
- Suffolk University, Boston, Massachusetts
- University of Rochester, Rochester, New York
- University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee
1. Alverno College; Milwaukee, WI
Contact: Susan Leister
susan.leister@alverno.edu / 414-382-6019
Program Name: Alverno College Help America Vote College Poll Worker Program
Funding Level: 40,800.00
Project Description: Alverno College will partner with the Milwaukee Election Commission to recruit, train and place at least 200 students as poll workers for the City of Milwaukee election in November. At least 25 of these poll workers will be fluent in Spanish to accommodate the need for translators. Two Alverno students will intern with the Election Commission to assist with planning and developing a poll worker recruitment and training program that will primarily target Alverno students, but will also reach out to students at Marquette University, the Milwaukee School of Engineering, and the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design. The program will also develop three courses that integrate the poll worker experience into Alverno’s curriculum. Alverno will create a video for use in presentations, classes and programs to promote the importance of poll workers as well as include daily features on AIFR.com, Alverno’s student-run radio station, and adapt social media outreach strategies already in place to support recruitment efforts.
2. Benedictine University; Lisle, IL
Contact: Joel Ostrow
Jostrow@ben.edu / 630-829-6470
Program Name: College Poll Worker Education and Training Program
Funding Level: $55,385.00
Project Description: Benedictine University (BU) and its Center for Civic Leadership and Public Service (CCL) will partner with the DuPage County Election Commission (EC) to develop a College Poll Worker, Education and Training program that will train and recruit 100 college students. BU’s program is two-fold, centered on a practical component that involves online judge certification training for students with measurable performance-based results, and an academic component that will modify existing Political Science courses to incorporate material on elections, voting and political participation. All Political Science majors and minors will be required to participate in the poll worker program. Recruitment strategies include developing a website that will provide information about poll workers, the application for the program, information about CCL and EC and online training. In addition, BU will create promotional video clips that will include an interview and information on what it is like to be a poll worker. This will be made available on the new website as well as other social media such as YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.
3. Central Connecticut State University; Hartford, CT
Contact: Robbin Smith
smithr@ccsu.edu / 860-832-2793
Program Name: CCSU Student Poll Worker Program
Funding Level: $32,107.00
Project Description: Central Connecticut State University (CCSU) will work with the Connecticut Association of Town Clerks to recruit 250 college poll workers by building off of the pilot program of 2004 HAVCP grantee, Asnuntuck Community College (ACC). CCSU’s program will target first year students to create a pool of students who will return to work as student mentors for other students in future elections. Students will be required to enroll in a one credit hybrid U.S. Elections and Civic Engagement course that will focus on serving as a poll worker. By combining an academic course with a civic engagement project, CCSU hopes that the program will not only develop a stronger sense of community amongst students and an increased level of knowledge about civil society, but will also produce an increased likelihood of students participating in civic activities in the future. CCSU’s program will go beyond the ACC program by sending out follow-up surveys to measure changes in attitudes towards civic participation among college students participating in the program.
4. College of the Canyons; Santa Clarita, CA
Contact: Theresa Zuzevich
Theresa.zuzevich@canyons.edu / 661-362-3644
Program Name: Training election poll workers in Santa Clarita, California
Funding Level: $59,200.00
Project Description: The College of the Canyons (COC) will work with the Santa Clarita City Clerk’s Office, the Board of Trustees of the Santa Clarita Community College District and the Santa Clarita Valley chapter of Junior Chamber International to recruit and train 750 poll workers for North Los Angeles County. As the largest voting district in Los Angeles County, as well as its geographical isolation, Santa Clarita is in need of poll workers to serve 117 voting precincts. COC will offer a series of workshops on civic responsibility and engagement for students and community members who sign up to be poll workers. Data will be tracked by the Student Development Office and information will be disseminated using social media tools like Facebook and Twitter. The program will recruit students bilingual in Spanish, facilitate students with disabilities and hire interpreters to translate poll worker trainings into sign language for students with hearing impairments. COC will create a replicable program to be used by other colleges and universities in future years.
5. Harris-Stowe State University; St. Louis, MO
Contact: Annette Curdt
Curdta@hssu.edu / 314-340-5030
Program Name: HSSU Student Poll Workers Initiative
Funding Level: 43,433.00
Project Description: The Department of Student Activities at Harris-Stowe State University (HSSU) is working with the St. Louis City Board of Election Commissioners to implement a college poll worker program that will recruit 100-150 students. Located in an urban community, HSSU serves a population of more than 90 percent minorities. HSSU will increase student knowledge of election and voting processes and their level of participation through voting.. Recruitment efforts will take place in and out of the classroom involving instructors in the Political Science and Criminal Justice department to recruit students from their classes, and website development to the HSSU website that will direct interested students to information about the program as well as an application that can be sent electronically to the director.
6. Keystone College; La Plume, PA
Contact: Sharon Burke
Sharon.burke@keystone.edu / 570-945-8175
Program Name: Help NEPA Vote: Step up to the Poll!
Funding Level: 39,996.00
Project Description: Keystone College’s "Help NEPA Vote: Step Up to the Poll!" program will recruit and train 75 students to become poll workers to serve in Lackawanna, Wyoming, Bradford and Susquehanna Counties. Partnerships will be made with each county’s Director of Elections to facilitate direct connection to municipalities in need of poll workers and assist with registration for poll worker training. Particular emphasis will be placed on recruiting culturally diverse students and students who are multi-lingual. A Student Champion will coordinate Help NEPA Vote recruitment activities and a student-centered Step Up to the Poll! challenge campaign which is designed to motivate and increase student participation. The Step Up to the Poll! program will integrate poll work into the classroom, updating classroom curriculum, as well as implement an excused absence policy for all students campus-wide who will be serving as poll workers and utilize Student Senate to lead peer-to-peer education on election process and motivate civic engagement.
7. Kids Voting of Central Ohio; Columbus, OH
Contact: Jeff Cabot
JeffCabot@KidsVotingOH.org / 614-224-3555
Program Name: The Central Ohio College Poll Worker Recruitment Program
Funding Level: $84,000.00
Project Description: Kids Voting of Central Ohio (KVCO) will partner with the Franklin County Board of Elections (FCBOE) and HAVA Partners (HP) to develop innovative outreach and training strategies to recruit and train 500 college students from the Ohio State University (OSU) and Columbus State CC (CSCC) to serve as poll workers in the November elections. The program will create training video-games that simulate working at the polling place. The program will develop virtual polling places that train students through the use of an avatar. Students will be able to role-play typical interactions with voters, solve problems that might arise at the polling place, and learn what decisions to make in varying circumstances all through a highly interactive video game. KVCO will make use of social media tools like Facebook and Twitter to recruit students. The program will track student activity and collect data as well as survey users about their experience.
8. Kutztown University; Kutztown, PA
Contact: Julianne Nolan
Nolan@kutztown.edu / 610-683-1396
Program Name: Kutztown University College Poll Worker Program
Funding Level: $58,868.00
Project Description: Kutztown University (KU) is partnering with Berks County Board of Elections to expand the pool of poll workers and available poll interpreters, particularly fluent in Spanish; assess and address the accessibility of the polling places; and produce an updated poll worker recruitment and training video to be used by the county. Berks County does not have a student poll worker program at the college level and is in need of a larger and younger pool of poll workers. KU will recruit and train 75 students, targeting at least 25 students who are bilingual in Spanish, to address the city’s need for interpreter assistance. Collaborative efforts will be made with the Language Arts Department to incorporate a service learning component for students who serve as interpreters, as well as with the Multicultural Center to involve students of all ethnicities. KU’s Office of Disability Services will assist in assessing the environments of the polling places to determine if they are welcoming and accessible surroundings for disabled voters.
9. Lourdes College; Sylvania, OH
Contact: Manda Rice
mrice@lourdes.edu / 419-824-3752
Program Name: Poll Worker Program at Lourdes College
Funding Level: $34,783.00
Project Description: Lourdes College is partnering with the Lucas County Board of Elections to recruit 120 students to serve the 97 precincts in the county. The TRiO Student Services program, which is a federally funded program that serves first generation, low-income students and those with disabilities, the Veteran’s Center and the Office of Accessibility Services will be involved with recruitment and implementation efforts. TRiO and non-TRiO students will develop a committee that will assist the project director and project coordinator in administering the project. Particular emphasis will be placed on recruiting students that represent diverse backgrounds including underrepresented groups, those with disabilities and veterans. Social work students will work with the Board of Elections to conduct a needs assessment of access to voting resources among economically disadvantaged neighborhoods and individuals with disabilities. Training will be held on campus, recorded via lecture capture technology with closed captioning and made available to other counties waiting to establish a college poll worker program.
10. Marshall-Wythe Law School Foundation; Williamsburg, VA
Contact: Rebecca Hulse
rghuls@wm.edu / 757-221-3851
Program Name: The Tidewater Roots Polling Project
Funding Level: 63,700.00
Project Description: The Election Law Society (ELS) at the William & Mary Law School will recruit and train 240 college students from six colleges in the Tidewater region including Christopher Newport University, Hampton University, Norfolk State University, Old Dominion University, Regent University and William & Mary. Through the Tidewater Roots Polling Project (TRPP), students will take part in a series of trainings including a technical training session offered by Registrars of the counties being served as well as events that offer students the opportunity meet and interact with experienced poll workers. The program intends to go beyond recruiting and training college poll workers to not only teach students the skills needed to be effective poll workers, but also to ensure lasting impact by inspiring students and instilling a sense of civic spirit. TRPP will create five video oral histories through interviews with selected veteran poll workers who served in Virginia for more than thirty years. These videos will be part of a website development project that will provide information and resources for how students can get involved in the election process.
11. Morehouse College; Atlanta, GA
Contact: Obie Clayton
oclayton@morehouse.edu / 404-653-7819
Program Name: College Poll Worker Program
Funding Level: 38,037.00
Project Description: The Morehouse College Community Revitalization Initiative (MCCRI) will collaborate with the Brisbane Institute and the Bonner Office of Community Service of Morehouse College to recruit, train and mobilize 75 students to become poll workers. The MCCRI will collaborate with 12 neighborhood organizations such as Georgia Stand Up and the Georgia Coalition for the People’s Agenda to assist with recruitment efforts and the Fulton County Election Commission will provide training to students. One student assistant will be recruited to develop recruitment materials. MCCRI will also provide a monthly Voter Education class that will be designed to educate participants on voting trends and the electoral process. Morehouse College will develop website pages dedicated to the program and promote the program on the web-basedMorehouse College calendar and MCCRI Facebook page. Pre and post surveys will be distributed
to measure the impact of the program.
12. Southern Utah University; Cedar City, UT
Contact: Douglas Larson
larsond@suu.edu / 435-865-8563
Program Name: College Action for Student Turnout – College Poll Worker Program
Funding Level: $46,480.00
Project Description: The Michael O. Leavitt Center for Politics and Public Service (Leavitt Center) at Southern Utah University (SUU) proposes to work with the Lieutenant Governor and five County Clerk offices to recruit 30 students as poll workers to address the recent decline of voter participation in the state. The goal of this program is to connect SUU students with surrounding local rural communities, inspiring them to fulfill their civic duties. Data will be collected to determine where students are needed the most and assign them to serve in these districts. With a large percentage of students from the surrounding local areas, this program will try to assign students to polling stations in their home voting districts. With this approach, the Leavitt Center hopes to teach students civic responsibility while inspiring them to participate well into the future. The Leavitt Center will use social media tools like Facebook, Twitter and a campus mass texting network to reach out to students. Particular emphasis will be on recruiting Native American and Hispanic students through the Native American Student Union and the Hispanic Student Association, as well as students with disabilities through the Disability Support Center.
13. Suffolk University; Boston, MA
Contact: Rachael Cobb
rcobb@suffolk.edu / 617-305-6380
Program Name: The University Poll Worker Project at Suffolk University
Funding Level: $30,211.00
Project Description:
As a past EAC grant recipient, Suffolk University plans to build on past successes by expanding its poll worker program. Suffolk University will partner with Wheelock College, the Colleges of the Fenway and the Disability Law Center to recruit 250 students to serve as poll workers. This program proposes to develop a supplementary pilot poll worker training curriculum that will focus on
creating new materials that specialize in training poll workers to assist voters with disabilities. Suffolk plans to develop two training videos—one for voters and one for poll workers—to educate both populations about what kinds of accommodations exists, how to use these accommodations and how to ask for them if necessary. These videos will be available through the City of Boston’s
Election Department website.
14. University of Rochester; Rochester, NY
Contact: Donna Beyea
donna.beyea@rochester.edu / 585-275-8037
Program Name: Monroe County Election Fellows Program
Funding Level: 62,000.00
Project Description: The Rochester Center for Community Leadership (RCCL) will partner with the Monroe County Board of Elections to recruit and train 150 college poll workers from the University of Rochester, Monroe Community College and Roberts Wesleyan College with emphasis on minority and disabled students. Two Election Fellows will be selected from each of the participating institutions to design and implement strategies to recruit student poll workers on their campuses. Election Fellows will also be responsible for attending "Boot Camp" training where Election Commissioners will introduce and provide training on the new ImageCast voting machines. Election Fellows will work closely with the Monroe County Board of Elections to evaluate the effectiveness of the new voting technology and seek to develop helpful voting procedures and materials. The RCCL anticipates expanding its outreach to include the remaining four local institutions—Nazareth, St. John Fisher, SUNY Brockport, and Rochester Institute of Technology.
15. University of Tennessee; Knoxville, TN
Contact: Amy Gibson
agibson1@utk.edu / 865-974-3816
Program Name: Knox County Election Commission: College Student Poll Worker Program
Funding Level: $61,000.00
Project Description: The Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville will partner with the Knox County Election Commission to recruit and train at least 200 college students to become poll workers on Election Day through the development of a series of videos and website for an online college student poll worker training program. Knox County has 94 precincts serving 265,000 registered voters and is in need of poll workers due to the shortage of volunteers, absenteeism, and unfamiliarity with technology and other election processes, and the decreasing number of volunteers due to the increasing average all of poll workers. This program will recruit students from three different campuses including the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, Knoxville College and Pellissippi State Community College. The Howard H. Baker Center will collaborate with the Tennessee Disability Coalition and Disability Resource Center to ensure accessibility and training needs of students with disabilities. The goal of this program is to create accessible opportunities for all college students to participate in the poll worker program while meeting the immediate need for poll workers, developing a model for the state and creating a new generation of people who will continue to stay engaged in the election process.
2009 Help America Vote College Program Recipients
- Salish Kootenai College; Pablo, MT
- Hampton College; Hampton, VA
- Regis University; Denver, CO
- Palmetto Project; Mt. Pleasant, SC
- LaGuardia Community College; Long Island, NY
- Catskill Center for Independence; Oneonta, NY
- University of Central Florida; Orlando, FL
- University of Southern Mississippi; Hattiesburg, MS
- Missouri Western State University; St. Joseph, MO
- University of Texas Austin; Austin, TX
- Curators of the University of Missouri; Columbia, MO
- University of Baltimore; Baltimore, MD
- Vassar College; Pughkeepsie, NY
1. Salish Kootenai College; Pablo, MT
Contact: Roger McClure, Director of Career Services
roger_mcclure@skc.edu; 406-675-4800
Program Name: Student Teams for Election Assistance in Montana (STEAM)
Funding level: $66,008
Project Description: This comprehensive, public tribal community college will partner with the Lake and Flathead County Election Offices to develop, implement, evaluate, and maintain a poll workforce of college students. The recruitment and training of a new generation of poll workers will address pending shortages and provide a workforce that can easily learn emerging election technology and assist in the recruitment of future student workers. Two special populations of student workers will be recruited to assist the 1.6 percent of the voters who speak the Salish and Kootenai languages and those voters who are deaf. The program has a target of recruiting and training 200 students. Students will be engaged in developing an innovative multi-media recruitment program aimed at their peers.
2. Hampton College; Hampton, VA
Contact: Mamie Locke, Dean and Professor of Political Science
mamie.locke@hamptonu.edu; 757-727-5000
Program Name: College Poll Worker Program
Funding Level: $74,055
Project Description: The program will be housed in the Political Science Department, and will recruit, train and support college students at Hampton University and Thomas Nelson Community College. The program will also work with Hampton City Schools in recruiting a previously untapped pool of potential poll workers, 12th graders who are eligible to register to vote prior to any given election. The program will recruit 150 students using a variety of media including radio, flyers, news media, recruitment fairs, and direct presentations to student groups and classes. Hampton University will host a Saturday morning Democracy School where participants will be grounded in democracy issues. The curriculum will include lectures on voting and elections in the United States generally and Virginia in particular. There will also be discussions on civic engagement and the responsibility of citizens. All recruits will participate in a mock election that works through scenarios (what-ifs on Election Day) developed through the program in consultation with the Electoral Board. The major community partner for this project will be the City of Hampton Electoral Board and Registrar.
3. Regis University; Denver, CO
Contact: Lauren Alweis, Assistant to the Executive Director
compact@regis.edu; 303-458-4193
Program Name: Help Coloradans Vote
Funding Level: $74,611
Project Description: Colorado Campus Compact (Regis University is the host partner) and Just Vote Colorado (a program from Colorado Common Cause), will implement a series of strategies designed to engage college students as poll workers and build a long-term commitment to civic engagement. In Year One, efforts will focus on college students in Denver. Leadership will be provided by Colorado Campus Compact’s largest and most diverse inner-city campuses. Year Two will expand to include Northern and Southern Colorado, the Eastern plains and the Western Slope. The community partners will be the Colorado Secretary of State’s office, Denver Elections Division, Larimer County Clerk’s Office, and other county election offices. A Colorado Election Fellows Program will establish 35 Fellowships to be awarded on a competitive basis to students at Metropolitan State College of Denver (Metro), University of Colorado-Denver (UCD), and the University of Denver (DU). Multilingual students and/or students who can readily reach out to people with disabilities will be encouraged to apply through working with student organizations and broad advertising via these institutions’ e-mail and experiential learning and service centers. The goal of the Colorado Elections Fellows program will be to provide students with an incentive to both participate on Election Day as poll workers and to recruit other students. The program has a goal of eight student recruits per fellow for a total of 280 students. A service-learning unit will also be developed that can be implemented in various campus courses as a means to recruit and train poll workers. Masters level students in political science will be engaged in program evaluation.
4. Palmetto Project; Mt. Pleasant, SC
Contact: Stephen Skardon, Executive Director
sskardon@palmettoproject.org; 843-577-4122
Program Name: South Carolina Young Voters Initiative
Funding Level: $74,929
Project Description: This program will recruit and train of a new generation of technologically savvy election workers from five historically black colleges and five traditional colleges to sustain South Carolina’s new unified election system, create an ongoing relationship between colleges and their county election boards to insure recruitment of future student workers, and develop a replicable program model for distribution to all 46 county election boards in the state. The pilot project will underwrite training and deployment of 50 student election workers in elections in November 2009, and an additional 250 in the general elections in November 2010. More than one-third of these students will be non-white or from among those who might have been excluded from participation due to physical challenges. The strategy for the pilot project is focused on outreach through innovative media, special high-profile recruitment events, and informational activities. A key final outcome will be a Guide to the Recruitment of Students and Disadvantaged Youth as Election Workers in South Carolina based on data collection, research, and evaluation of student poll workers’ participation in the 2009 and 2010 elections.
5. LaGuardia Community College; Long Island, NY
Contact: Robert Jaffe, Senior Administrator
rjaffe@lagcc.cuny.edu; 718-482-5037
Program Name: LaGuardia Electoral Assistance Program
Funding Level: $74,041
Project Description: The LaGuardia Electoral Assistance Program (LEAP) will run a college-wide campaign to recruit 250 students in order to fill a desperate need for poll workers capable of serving as language interpreters, and who are technologically-savvy enough to assist with new ballot-marking devices. LEAP will mobilize the entire college community for student recruitment - from the college president to the faculty and students – while employing all available outreach techniques (e.g., Facebook, twitter, web radio, email, phone calls, and local media). In recognition of the barriers facing voters with disabilities, LaGuardia will partner with the Center for Independence of the Disabled of New York (CIDNY), the preeminent disability advocacy group in New York to develop disability training for poll workers so that they possess the skills needed to help voters navigate polling sites and ballots. LEAP will also recruit students to participate in focus groups identify the best practices for recruiting poll workers with disabilities and for making polling sites more accessible.
6. Catskill Center for Independence; Oneonta, NY
Contact: Christine Zachmeyer, Executive Director
ccfi99@aol.com; 607-432-8000
Program Name: College Poll Worker Program
Funding Level: $74,000
Project Description: This project will be focused on recruiting college students with disabilities as poll workers. The target goal is 150 students. A student organization on each participating campus will adopt the poll worker recruitment project and assume the role of campus "Champions" for the purpose of recruitment. Members of the designated "Champion" organizations will receive intensive training and technical support from CCFI. CCFI will utilize its extensive prior experience and community connections as a basis for developing a supplemental curriculum and training guide for recruiting poll workers with disabilities and making polling places more disability friendly, to guide the Champions’ efforts both on-campus and in the community. Champion organizations will receive incentives such as stipends, extra credit in courses, and attendance at special campus events.
7. University of Central Florida; Orlando, FL
Contact: Thomas Bryer, Assistant Professor
tbryer@mail.ucf.edu; 407-823-3041
Program Name: Training Through Technology: Poll Workers in the 21st Century
Funding level: $75,000
Project Description: The University of Central Florida, in partnership with Valencia Community College (VCC), will create and offer a non-partisan online course in civic engagement as a means to recruit 300 students to be poll workers in Orange County Florida (200 will come from U. of Central Florida and 100 from VCC, a college with a 27 percent Hispanic student body). Second Life, an online simulation program, will be utilized as part of the course to simulate real life experiences poll workers might have during an election, utilizing ideas generated through a partnership with the Orange County Supervisor of Elections. A parallel "face to face" course will also be offered and the two courses evaluated as to their effectiveness. The program evaluation will compare the capabilities of student poll workers trained with traditional methods vs. those "virtually" trained.
8. University of Southern Mississippi; Hattiesburg, MS
Contact: Connie Wyldmon, Director
connie.wyldmon@usm.edu; 601-266-4119
Program Name: College Poll Worker Program
Funding Level: $48,471
Project Description: The Mississippi Campus Compact will partner with six member campuses to recruit and train 250 college students to assist as poll workers in local elections. The students will be recruited and trained through involvement with service-learning in political science courses. Competitive subgrants will be provided to the six member colleges to develop and implement these courses. Priority consideration will be give to campuses at historically black colleges, and/or those that specify how they will work with disability and inclusion offices, or underrepresented populations. Community partners include the Secretary of State’s Office, Election Commission Association of Managers, and the American Legion. Students will receive training on assisting people with disabilities at the polls, and college disability services programs will also provide training on disability etiquette, and help recruit students with disabilities to serve as poll workers.
9. Missouri Western State University; St. Joseph, MO
Contact: David Tushaus, Department Chair, Criminal Justice and Legal Studies
tushaus@missouriwestern.edu; 816-271-5627
Program Name: College Poll Worker Program
Funding Level: $74,807
Project Description: This project will expand a successful program at MWSU to utilize students as poll workers into nearby counties beyond the university, and promote the development of similar programs at other colleges throughout Missouri through the development of Missouri-specific poll worker training curriculum/multimedia kits. A broad spectrum of MWSU’s student population will be targeted, including low income, minority, rural, urban, students with disabilities, and non-traditional students. The program will rely on experienced staff and faculty, community organizations and elections officials from at least four counties. The program will add five new election jurisdictions will be added to the program as additional colleges establish poll worker programs. Examples of institutional support include staff from the Disability Services, Non-Traditional Student Services, and Multicultural Education Offices, who have agreed to assist with the program.
10. University of Texas Austin; Austin, TX
Contact: Margaret Hoard, Senior Grants/Contract Specialist
osp@austin.utexas.edu; 512-471-6288
Program Name: UT Poll Worker Program
Funding Level: $53,078 Project Description: The Annette Strauss Institute for Civic Participation at U. Texas Austin will partner with the Travis County Clerk Elections Division to create the UT Poll Worker Program, which will recruit, train, and support bi-lingual college students in the County to serve as nonpartisan poll workers. The program will have at least 50 student poll workers and assistants participating in the 2009 November election and at least 200 student poll workers and assistants participating in the 2010 election cycle. Students will serve in polling locations across Travis County, including both urban and rural precincts. In addition to recruiting bilingual students, project staff will target minority and disabled students by working with campus organizations including: the African American Affairs Office; the Asian Pacific Islander Desi American Collective; the Latino Leadership Council; the Longhorn American Indian Council; Students for Equity and Diversity; the Texas Center for Disability Studies; and the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement. The program will offer a host of educational experiences, including trainings, information and social sessions, as well as opportunities for course credit for participating students.
11. Curators of the University of Missouri; Columbia, MO
Contact: Emily Johnson Policy Analyst
johnsonemi@missouri.edu; 573-884-5473
Program Name: Help America Vote College Program
Funding Level: $20,000
Project Description: The project will recruit and train students with disabilities from the University of Missouri to serve as poll workers in the 2010 election cycle. Fifteen to twenty students will be recruited, using the successful electronic mass media campaign strategies developed by the University in their 2008 program. Partnerships for this project include the University’s Institute of Public Policy and Office of Disability Services, and the Boone County Clerk. In addition to receiving training, student will have the option of additional mentoring from experienced poll workers. Recruitment and training materials will be developed to meet the specific needs of the target student population. Students with initial election experience from the April test-run training will serve as ambassadors to recruit fellow students for elections in the fall. Students with disabilities recruited from the University will also participate in the training of poll workers to provide insights on how to make the polling places more welcoming to all voters.
12. University of Baltimore; Baltimore, MD
Contact: John Willis Executive Director
jwillis@ubalt.edu; 410-837-6110
Program Name: Help America Vote College Program
Budget Request: $20,000
Recommended funding level: $20,000
Project Description: The program will recruit 100 students with language or disability skills and train them to be poll workers. This comprehensive program includes collaboration between the University, local governments, and educational experts to pool ideas and resources. Precinct data will be used to identify areas where poll workers with foreign language skills or experience working with disabled populations may be needed. Training materials and curriculum relating to voters needing disability services and language assistance will be developed and made available to state and local election officials. Over half of the students recruited will be placed with local election boards.
13. Vassar College; Pughkeepsie, NY
Contact: Gary Hohenberger, Associate Director
gahohenberger@vassar.edu; 845-437-7092
Program Name: Dutchess County College Action Network
Funding Level: $20,000
Project Description: This program builds on a successful program began in 2008. The number of participating colleges will be expanded to five with 80-100 additional student poll workers being recruited. New materials will be developed to specifically meet the needs of disabled student recruits, while also enhancing and streamlining the recruitment and training of the entire group of student poll workers. The training program will utilize electronic media that has proven successful in the past, including offering online training, a wiki, and an online survey for formative evaluations. Student input will be a critical component in designing these materials. In addition, a college credit course will be offered focusing on the components of inclusion training for poll workers. This work will be done in tandem with the Dutchess County Board of Elections, which received a grant to redesign their poll worker training materials.
2008 Help America Vote College Program Recipients
- Loyola University
- Muhlenberg College, Lehigh County Voting Integrity & Civic Education Project
- Winona State University
- Golden Key International Honour Society
- Washtenaw Community College
- Northhampton County Area Community College
- Texans Together Education Fund
- University of Baltimore
- American University (AU)
- Vassar College
- Middlesex Community College
- The Virginia21 Organization
- Suffolk University
- University of Missouri, Columbia
- The Citizen Union Foundation
- St. Louis Community College
- Henry Ford Community College (HFCC)
- University of Texas at El Paso
- Auburn University Montgomery
- McDaniel College
- Onondaga Community College
- Youngstown State University
- Northern Kentucky University Research Foundation
- Northern Plains Tribal Voter Education Project
- The New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG)
- Greensboro College
- Southern Connecticut State University
1. Loyola University
Funding Level: $30,322
Loyola University plans to conduct an Equipment Manager Recruitment Initiative for Cook, County Illinois, which will recruit approximately 315 college students to serve as equipment managers in suburban Cook County for the November election. Loyola’s Division of Public Affairs will achieve this goal through an on-campus student organization recruitment contest. At the contest, students will compete to recruit the most Equipment managers for the general election. The contest-based program has proven effective through Loyola’s experience in the 2008 primary election, where Loyola in conjunction with the Cook County Clerk’s Office successfully recruited and trained 150 college students.
Contact Information:
Bill Sellers, Research Services Director
Loyola University of Chicago
6525 N. Sheridan Road
Chicago, IL 60626
Phone: 773-508-2478
Fax: 773-508-8942
Email: wsellers@luc.edu
2. Muhlenberg College, Lehigh County Voting Integrity & Civic Education Project
Funding Level: $10,409
Muhlenberg College, Lehigh County Voting Integrity & Civic Education Project plans a project to assist the Lehigh County, Pennsylvania Office of Voter Registration and Elections in recruiting and training 40-60 college students as poll workers. Additionally, they plan to recruit 10-15 students who will serve as Spanish-language translators and interpreters at the polls on Election Day. Two of the main recruitment strategies will be an integration of the poll worker program into course requirements and campus-wide volunteer outreach and recruitment.
Contact Information:
Lanethea Mathews-Gardner, Assistant Professor of Political Science
Muhlenberg College
2400 Chew Street
Allentown, PA 18104
Phone: 484-664-3737
Fax: 484-664-3536
Email: mathews@muhlenberg.edu
3. Winona State University
Funding Level: $29,495
Winona State University plans to recruit and place 100 students as election judges for the November 2008 general election. Students will be recruited from specific classes and asked to complete a pre and post test regarding their experience. In addition, Winona State plans to implement a service learning project in the classroom. As the state of Minnesota needs an estimated 30,000 election judges for the upcoming November election, the secretary of state has expressed strong support of Winona State’s program to assist in recruiting college students to serve as election judges.
Contact Information:
Kara Lindaman, Assistant Professor
Winona State University
175 W. Mark Street
Winona, MN 55987
Phone: 507-457-5674
Fax: 507-457-5086
Email: klindaman@winona.edu
4. Golden Key International Honour Society
Funding Levels: $32,167
Golden Key International Honour Society plans a program to have 500,000 or more college students hear about the college program through marketing efforts. In addition, their goal is to have 1,500 or more college students serve as poll workers. Recruitment tools will include informational events, posters, brochures, and peer-to-peer motivation.
Contact Information:
Colleen Ware- Associate Director; U.S. University Relations
Golden Key International Honour Society
621 North Ave N.E. Suite C-100
Atlanta, GA 30308
Phone: 404-377-2401 x. 5716
Fax: Not supplied
Email: cware@goldenkey.org
5. Washtenaw Community College
Funding Levels: $30,767
Washtenaw Community College plans to encourage 115 students enrolled largely at Washtenaw Community College, but also at neighboring universities, to assist the local government in administering elections by serving as poll workers or assistants. The college will encourage political science or other instructors to provide extra credit to students for their participation. Recruitment of students will be accomplished through connections with other student organizations, kick-off events, campus newspaper ads, flyers, and posters.
Contact Information:
Krissa Rumsey, Grants Administrator
Washtenaw Community College
4800 E. Huron River Drive, P.O. Box 1610
Ann Arbor, MI 48106
Phone: 734-973-3492
Fax: 734-677-5406
Email: krumsey@wccnet.edu
6. Northhampton County Area Community College
Funding Levels: $30,704
Northhampton County Area Community College plans to utilize service-learning strategies that mobilize students using a course-based, service-learning experience that joins meaningful community service activities to related course material. In addition, community service will be ensured through peer networks such as student government, club, sorority and sports extra-curricular voluntary service. Campus-wide kick-off and wrap-up events where students, faculty, community leaders, and local election officials discuss the significance of civic responsibility and engagement in the democratic process will also be organized. These activities aim to recruit no fewer than 100 volunteers.
Contact Information:
Debra Bohn, Service-Learning Administrator
Northampton County Area Community College
3835 Green Pond Road
Bethlehem, PA 18020
Phone: 610-861-5061
7. Texans Together Education Fund
Funding Levels: $32,167
Texans Together Education Fund was awarded this grant for the Help Houston Vote project, which targets minority young adults with the purpose of placing them as trained assistant poll workers in Harris County Precinct One. This project will assist in creating a more ethnically diverse, multi-lingual, and younger generation to work at the polls. The goal is to recruit 100 students to serve as poll workers in Precinct One in the November election.
Contact Information:
Joy Arthur, Director of Development
Texans Together Education Fund
221 East 9th Street, Suite 403
Austin, TX 78701
Phone: 512-619-7930
Fax: 512-473-2707
Email: joy_arthur@yahoo.com
8. The University of Baltimore
Funding Levels: $32,103
The University of Baltimore plans to supply approximately 300 election judges for the Baltimore metropolitan area and meet the needs of the Baltimore City and Baltimore County election boards. Recruiters will work as a team to develop and implement an outreach plan that will include distribution of posters and flyers, speaking to student organizations and classrooms, articles in school publications, and peer-to-peer recruitment.
Contact Information:
John Willis
Schaefer Center for Public Policy & Center for Citizenship and Applied Politics, University of Baltimore
1420 N. Charles Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
Phone: 410-837-6110
Fax: 410-837-6175
Email: jwillis@ubalt.edu
9. American University (AU)
Funding Levels: $32,167
American University plans to recruit 150 AU and other university students to serve as poll technicians or poll workers for the November election. The university also has the goal of developing a core curriculum in election administration based on lessons learned from the program to provide continuing technical assistance to the DC Board of Elections, and a certificate program for AU students. AU will attempt to recruit participants from AU’s 2006 Poll Worker Program to serve as team leaders for the 2008 Program. There will be strong collaboration with student organizations to advertise the program. In addition, AU will employ a catchy and attention-getting slogan in its efforts to publicize the program.
Contact Information:
Conrad Hohenlohe, Assistant Director, Office of Sponsored Programs
American University
4400 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20016
Phone: 202-885-3474
Fax: 202-885-3453
Email: chohenl@american.edu
10. Vassar College
Funding Levels: $31, 785
Vassar College plans to develop and implement the Help Dutchess County Vote College Program in conjunction with the Help America Vote College Program. Vassar College’s objectives goals include training 20 fellows and recruiting and training 200 poll workers. Outreach will include flyers, tabling, radio station and campus newspaper announcements, and Poll Worker drives will be held during the first two weeks of school.
Contact Information:
Sarita McCoy Gregory, Assistant Professor
Department of Political Science – Vassar College
P.O. Box 260
124 Raymond Avenue
Poughkeepsie, NY 12604
Email: sagregory@vassar.edu
11. Middlesex Community College
Funding Levels: $18,852
The college proposes to have a one-credit special topics course called Elections and Civic Participation in America. Middlesex Community College’s program goal is to completely meet the poll worker staffing needs of each of the participating municipalities and to have 100 percent of the students that are enrolled in the course complete a full day of work on Election Day. They anticipate training about 97 college students.
Contact Information:
Trenton Wright, Coordinator of Institutional Advancement
Middlesex Community College
100 Training Hill Road
Middletown, CT 06457
Phone: 860-343-5708
Fax: 860-344-2789
Email: twright@mxcc.commnet.edu
12. The Virginia21 Organization
Funding Levels: $32,103
Its Virginia21’s "Democracy 101" program will use posters, flyers, a website, campus newspaper ads, etc. to promote the poll worker program. Virginia21 has identified 21 localities located near 19 college campuses with a total approximate need between 2,464-2,589 additional Officers of Elections. Their goal is to recruit 1,000 new Officers of Elections throughout their 21 localities.
Contact Information:
Kelly Porell, Executive Director
Virginia21 Organization
1108 East Main Street, Suite 800
Richmond, VA 23219
Phone: 804-513-8221
Fax: 703-991-4513
Email: kporell@virginia21.org
13. Suffolk University
Funding Levels: $31,849
Suffolk University plans to successfully recruit at least one professor at each partner site to integrate the college poll worker program into a standard fall course. In addition, their goal is to successfully recruit 75-100 students to serve as poll workers. Suffolk University will share best practices for training with the City of Boston’s election department. They will also develop a train-the-trainer manual and trainer seminar so the City of Boston may have a set of additional certified trainers who can conduct trainings on campuses (and elsewhere) around Boston.
Contact Information:
Patricia Kelleher
Suffolk University
8 Ashburton Place
Boston, MA 02108
Phone: 617-573-8390
Fax: Not supplied
Email: pkellehe@suffolk.edu
14. The University of Missouri, Columbia
Funding Levels: $25,705
The College’s Institute of Public Policy plans to partner with the Boone County Clerk to recruit and train 75-100 college students from Columbia College and Stephens College to serve as poll workers in the November general election. The project plan is largely centered on the EAC’s materials for recruiting college poll workers. Recruitment methods include posters, brochures, a mass media campaign, and a social network campaign. Additionally, faculty will be encouraged to offer extra credit to participating students.
Contact Information:
Donna McKinney, Associate Director
University of Missouri – Columbia
Office of Sponsored Programs Administration
310 Jesse Hall
Columbia, MO 65211
Phone: 573-882-7560
Fax: 573-884-4078
Email: grantsdc@missouri.edu
15. The Citizen Union Foundation
Funding Levels: $29,114
The Foundation’s project is particularly important because the New York City Board of Elections estimates it will need 8,600 additional poll workers to supplement its regular staff of 30,000 on Election Day. Citizen Union’s goal is to recruit 3,000 nonpartisan poll workers of which 50% or 1,500 will be college students. Recruitment efforts will include expansive and comprehensive internet based recruitment, and they will build upon existing relationships with local colleges and universities to create on-campus recruitment and education on the election process.
Contact Information:
Dick Dadey, Executive Director
Citizens Union Foundation
299 Broadway, Suite 700
New York, NY 10007
Phone: 212-227-0342
Fax: 212-227-0345
Email: ddadey@citizensunionfoundation.org
16. St. Louis Community College
Funding Levels: $21,035
Its four campus plan to partner with the St. Louis City and St. Louis County election boards will fulfill a need for poll workers through the "Show-Me New Poll Workers" project. It is anticipated that 500 college students will be recruited to serve as poll workers in the November 2008 general election. Students with skills in foreign languages, American Sign Language, business administration and communication, art, computer science, and political science will be specifically targeted. Recruitment will be facilitated through career and employment services, personal recruitment, and question and answer sessions.
Contact Information:
John Messmer, Associate Professor of Political Science
St. Louis Community College
300 S. Broadway
St. Louis, MO 63102
Phone: 314-984-7674
Fax: 314-984-7489
Email: jmessmer@stlcc.edu
17. Henry Ford Community College (HFCC)
Funding Levels: $32,167
Henry Ford Community College plans to recruit student poll workers through classroom, club, and campus-wide events. Students enrolled in political science classes and Arabic-speaking students will be specifically targeted as well as the general student population through posters; information tables; flyers; the college newspaper, radio station, and website. Approximately 350 students will be recruited and the project anticipates 112 student poll workers will be utilized for the November general election.
Contact Information:
Anthony Perry, Instructor of Political Science
Henry Ford Community College
5101 Evergreen Road
Dearborn, MI 48128
Phone: 313-845-6383
Fax: 313-845-9778
Email: