After receiving help from a youth voter initiative, Ball State University surpassed its goal for the number of students who registered to vote this year.
Student Life set a goal of registering 750 students, but the school toppled its goal by registering 967 students, Aimee Ash, associate director and registration coordinator, said.
"BSU students register more during presidential election years," Ash said. "This was very good for a non-presidential year."
Ball State participated in a study based out of Indiana University South Bend this year, Ash said. The program is dedicated to getting students to register and vote, and it tracks the best methods for recruiting students.
"We have never done an effort where we saw which method was most fruitful," Ash said. "The initiative helped BSU be more streamlined and thoughtful. We were able to use our time the best way we could."
Student Life used a variety of methods to recruit students including campus mail, online forms, e-mails and classroom presentations, Ash said.
The classroom presentations were new this year and the most effective method, Annette Cote, graduate assistant and class room presentation leader, said. About 500 students registered to vote during the presentations. Online, 356 students registered, Ash said.
Fifteen graduate assistants from the Student Life office went to classes and gave about 60 presentations in late September, Cote said.
"The graduate assistants used scenarios to explain the need for college-age students to get their voices out there," Cote said.
The presentations engaged students in conversations about some of the major issues applying to college students and included a question and answer session, Cote said.
The graduate assistants also passed out registration forms and instructed the students how to fill them out, Cote said. The graduate assistants submitted the forms to the county offices after collecting them from students, she said.
While several new strategies were tried this year, some less effective methods from the past, such as registering students at tables set up around campus, were cut to save time, Ash said.
Student political groups, such as Young Democrats and Young Republicans, also helped to register students, Ash said.
Ball State will make a big push for registration for the next presidential election, Ash said. Student Life will collaborate with the Student Government Association to train student groups how to do registration drives effectively and efficiently, she said.
"We had a good response from the students and everything turned out really well," Cote said. "We will probably be doing this again for the next election."
No official goal has been set for the next election, but it will probably be higher since Student Life passed this year's goal, Ash said.
"We've really set a benchmark for what we will aim for the next few years before the presidential election," Ash said.
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