ATU Seeks Voter Friendly Campus Designation

Arkansas Tech University is working to become the first institution in Arkansas certified as a Voter Friendly Campus.

Created in 2016, the Voter Friendly Campus initiative is the result of a partnership between the Campus Vote Project and professional organization NASPA, Student Affairs Professionals in Higher Education.

According to information from the sponsoring organizations, the goal of the Voter Friendly Campus program is “to help institutions develop plans to coordinate administrators, faculty and student organizations in civic and electoral engagement.”

ATU is one of 150 universities and colleges from around the United States that have been considered for the designation during the 2019-20 cycle. Each of the institutions under consideration have completed and submitted a statement of interest.

Next steps will include the creation of a democratic engagement action plan and an assessment of how that plan affected campus engagement during 2018 elections. Universities and colleges selected for the honor will be announced in March 2019.

“The ATU Division of Student Services is pleased to have the opportunity to work on this project,” said Dr. Keegan Nichols, vice president for student services at ATU. “We hope to create a framework that will increase civic learning, political engagement and voting rates among our student population. By doing so, we support goal four of the ATU strategic plan, which calls for increased presence and effective participation in our cities, region, state and world. Becoming a Voter Friendly Campus will also help our students develop and sharpen the critical thinking skills that will benefit them in their careers and in their roles as advocates for positive change in their communities.”

Learn more at www.voterfriendlycampus.org.