Buffalo State College and the Census

1. Buffalo State College and the Census October 2019 Charles Lyons, Library Director Buffalo State College lyonscf@buffalostate.edu

2. Tract 55 Tract 59 Buffalo State College Buffalo State is located in the midst of low response areas… Tract 171 Tract 63.01

3. Students are at High Risk of Being Undercounted • The primary audience for Buffalo State (and for academic libraries) is also one of the demographic groups that has been identified as difficult to count: college students • Some of strongest influencers of response rates are common among college student populations: renter households and people aged 18 to 24

4. Buffalo State’sComplete Count Committee • Office of Civic and Community Engagement • Library • Government Relations • Community Academic Center • West Side Promise Neighborhood • Residence Life • Students • Faculty Members

5. Committee Goals • Maximize participation in census, particularly historically undercounted and hard-to-count populations: students and the surrounding community • Encourage campus / community conversation about the census • Connect with students’ passion for social justice / community issues • Make it as easy as possible to participate • Raise awareness about why the census is important • Un-muddy the waters

6. Potential Student Questions, Concerns, Issues • “My parents will fill out the census for me.” • “The census doesn’t affect me.” • “Should I do the census here on campus or at home?” • “I don’t have time to participate in the census.” • “I’m not comfortable sharing my information.” • “I don’t understand what is being asked.”

7. Things We’re Learning About Counting Students • Students are counted at the residence where they live most of the time (51%) and/or on April 1 (may be their college or home address). • Students living in on-campus dormitories will be counted as a “group quarters” rather than directly responding to the census. • Campus dormitories comprise the largest population of people living in group quarters in NYS.

8. Things We’re Learning About Counting Students • “One of the lowest self-response rates in 2010 was in the South Lake Village neighborhood north of Amherst, which is a student housing facility for the University at Buffalo where 0 percent of residents mailed back their Census questionnaire.” • Students living in the same off-campus apartment will be counted as one household. • Students who are foreign citizens, such as international students, will be counted the same way as all other students.

9. Activities Moving Forward • Census help desk: applied for funding to hire student assistant • Census drop in sessions in collaboration with student organizations • Create a competition / game around census completion • Offer incentives / prizes for census participation • Encourage faculty to use the census as a learning opportunity • Census as an employment opportunity for students (or volunteer opportunity)

10. Sources • https://www.jmu.edu/civic/_files/Census.pdf • https://crln.acrl.org/index.php/crlnews/article/view/17590/19391 • https://www.jmu.edu/civic/2020Census.shtml • https://www.northwestern.edu/newscenter/stories/2010/05/census.html • https://www.ny.gov/sites/ny.gov/files/atoms/files/finalcompletecountcommissionreport.pdf • https://www.esc.edu/news/releases/2019/computer-labs-open-to-public-for-2020-census.php