Oakland University has been ranked among a group of 58 schools earning the top score in this year’s Washington Monthly annual College Guide and Rankings in the category of “Best Colleges for Student Voting.”
OU will be holding voter registration events this year at Grizz Fest and on October 9 when the Secretary of State's office will be on campus the last day you can register to vote for this November's elections.
voter registration, voting, center for civic engagement, political science, civics
August 30, 2018
Oakland University has been ranked among a group of 58 schools earning the top score in this year’s Washington Monthly annual College Guide and Rankings in the category of “Best Colleges for Student Voting.” The first-of-its-kind list grades each school on their efforts to turn students into active citizen voters. A total of 1,488 schools were evaluated.
According to the publication, the rankings were based on four measures of a college’s commitment to encouraging voting by its students. An institution received one point in the “service” portion of the rankings if it has signed up for or participated in Tufts University’s National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement (NSLVE). This program helps colleges calculate their precise student voting and registration rates by combining national voting records with enrollment data. A college received a second point if it signed up for the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge, an effort that uses NSLVE data to help colleges create plans to boost their students’ voting rates and civic participation. An ALL IN school gets another point for releasing its NSLVE data publicly, and a fourth point is earned for making its ALL IN action plan public.
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“This ranking is another positive sign that Oakland University students are engaged, civic-minded and take their voting rights seriously,” David Dulio, Ph.D., director of OU’s Center for Civic Engagement and political science professor commented. “But, we know there is even more we can do to build on that foundation and teach our students more about the value of participating in our democracy. That is part of our mission as educators.”
Only three other schools in the state of Michigan made the list. Joining Oakland with top marks were Michigan State University, Michigan Technological University and the University of Michigan.
About Washington Monthly:
The Washington Monthly was founded in 1969 on the notion that a handful of plucky young writers and editors, armed with an honest desire to make government work and a willingness to ask uncomfortable questions, could tell the story of what really matters in Washington better than a roomful of Beltway insiders at a Georgetown dinner party. In our cluttered little downtown DC office, we’re still doing what we have done for more than 45 years, and what fewer and fewer publications do today: telling fascinating, deeply reported stories about the ideas and characters that animate America’s government. Learn more at: https://washingtonmonthly.com/.
About Oakland University’s Center for Civic Engagement:
The Oakland University Center for Civic Engagement takes important issues of public concern and public policy out of the classroom and actively engages many different stakeholders — includes students, faculty, policy makers and community members — in non-partisan, deliberative and productive dialogue. Indeed, democracy is better served through respectful discussions about important issues. The Center for Civic Engagement acts as a “convener of conversations” on a variety of issues that impact the local, state and federal levels. Learn more about the Center for Civic Engagement.