The GRCC Job Placement Center will be working, in conjunction with The City of Grand Rapids, to recruit up to 200 college students to work as pollworkers for the
November 7th state election. Students will be paid $125
for the assignment and will be required to attend a paid training session prior to Election Day (after applying, you will be notifi ed of the available training sessions).
To learn more, visit:
The Job Placement Center, Room 103 Main • Phone: (616) 234-3738 • E-mail: [email protected]
Grand Rapids Community College is an equal opportunity institution. 9/06 143XXX
Even f poll work s not ncorporated nto the currculum for extra credt, promotng the program n classes has proven to be a very effectve recrutment tool n many schools.
Presentatons n classes on communcaton, busness, psychology, phlosophy, and government have proven hghly successful n recrutng students.
• Student activities office. Gettng the word out to students about a pad “volunteer” opportunty lke poll work s a natural functon for many student actvtes or student lfe offices. Staff n these offices often know many students by name and can personally recrut those who they thnk wll be nterested.
For example, n the autumn of 2005, an electon offical asked the student actvtes office at Illnos Central College to recrut students for the March 2006 prmary electon. By offerng a servce credt and a stpend pad by the county, the office easly recruted 10 students as poll workers n a very short tme.
• Student groups. Outreach to large student groups s an effectve recrutng tool on campuses wth strong student organzatons. Informal meetngs wth student cvc organ-zatons gve poll worker recruters an opportunty to quckly reach a large group of students.
For example, the Golden Key chapter at the Unversty of Tennessee collaborated wth the Student Government Assocaton, the Intra-Fraternty Councl, the Pan-Hellenc Assocaton, and Team Vols (a large volunteer organzaton) to recrut more than 140 student poll workers.
Other recruitment tools. Schools use a varety of approaches that promote student awareness of poll worker opportuntes, although none by tself s extremely effectve as a recrutment tool. The key s to use several dfferent approaches so that students receve the message repeatedly n dfferent ways.
Schools should begn ther recrutment promoton durng
reg-straton and welcome week actvtes. Tools and technques
nclude the followng:
• Table tents, fliers, posters, banners, and campus bulletin boards. Students report that ther man sources of nformaton on campus are table tents, flers, and posters n dnng halls, student unons, and other hgh-traffic areas around campus.
Some schools have campus bulletn boards or televson montors that students regularly check for upcomng events and actvtes.
• Information tables. Many recrutment programs set up
nformaton tables n hgh-traffic areas to hand out materals and applcaton forms. Although some programs set up ther tables only daly or once a week, others create campuswde
Tips for Schools
If you feed them, they will come.
The best way to attract students to an information table is to offer free food and fun. Northampton Community College found that its most successful recruitment strategy was a “Recruitment Day” that included tables set up in strategic spots around the campus. These tables featured food, a magician, and a caricaturist to attract attention to the poll worker materials. In a single day, 100 students were recruited.
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exctement wth one bg “Recrutment Day” and recrut as many students as possble on that day.
Many schools find that provdng nformaton tables durng welcome week and other campus events yelds large num-bers of student applcants. One caveat s that ths approach can generate a large number of applcants who do not follow through to Electon Day.
• E-mail and Web sites. Internet recrutng at large unverstes and at colleges wth a well-establshed broadcast e-mal or lstserv system s an efficent and effectve way to reach students. Some electon jursdctons regularly ask local schools to send out campuswde electronc recrutment messages and do no other form of student recrutment.
Cleveland State Unversty, wth a student body of 16,000, cted mass e-malng as one of ts most effectve recrut-ment strateges.
When a student body s accustomed to relyng on the college Web ste for nformaton and downloadng forms,
t s a good dea to provde a Web ste that serves as “Poll Worker Recrutment Central,” provdng nformaton on local requrements for poll work, applcaton forms, and lnks to local electon jursdctons. Even greater efficences can be obtaned f the schools’ electon jursdctons are able to accept electronc applcatons. Ths way, the school can montor whch students apply for poll worker servce and then provde followup. These stes can save staff tme and are convenent for students.
Caution: It s crucal to know how students receve nformaton from the college admnstraton. Electronc campagns are not very effectve at colleges where e-mal and lstservs are not the prmary means of reachng the student body.
• Media. Pad ads or publc servce announcements n campus publcatons or on student rado shows usually do not drectly generate applcatons, but they are effectve n heghtenng the level of awareness on campus.
Ads n noncampus meda (newspapers, rado, and TV) also ad n student recrutment and serve a publc relatons func-ton when students see ther school’s program menfunc-toned
n the general meda. They see that poll servce has mpor-tance n the greater communty and wll pay more attenton than f they smply receve a flyer on campus. In addton to servng as a recrutment tool, the local meda can brng good publcty to the school and the electon jursdcton tself.
Photo credit: Suffolk University
• Methods of ganng attenton from both local and campus meda nclude—
• Wrtng a letter to the edtor of the local newspaper.
• Invtng local meda to your kckoff event.
• Sendng a press release to local mnorty and foregn-language meda.
• Sendng press releases to publc access bulletn boards, lbrares, and other areas where students congregate.
The special challenge of recruiting for State and local elections. There s naturally more exctement on campuses about natonal electons, especally presdental electons, than for local and State electons, so t s easer to recrut student poll workers for a presdental race. The same recrutment and
ncentve efforts are requred for off-year electons as for pres-dental electons, but schools and jursdctons should realze that t wll take more effort to attract student nterest.
Fortunately, jursdctons often staff fewer poll workers for local electons because voter turnout tends to be lower, and some jursdctons do not use college students for off-year electons, local electons, or prmares.
Tip
The Cool Factor. Recruitment will be most successful if it generates excitement on campus about volunteering on Election Day. The more students involved as multipliers, the better. For example, California State University, Long Beach, had T-shirts made that said,
“Love Me, I’m a Poll Worker.”
When students filled out a poll worker application, they were given T-shirts and were asked to wear them around campus.
Cheerleaders and other campus groups wore them to school events. Promotional tools such as these raise campuswide awareness of the program and create a “cool factor” that encourages participation.