*The nonpartisan ClemsonVotes coalition will be providing ideas and resources to faculty and instructors throughout the fall 2020 semester via the Clemson Teaching Listserv.
It’s finally National Voter Registration Week, y’all! The Clemson Votes group has created a short slide deck and asks all Clemson faculty and instructors of record to consider sharing this with students in classes this week. Our most recent data shows that our student voter registration rate hovers around 80%, so we have some work to do!
“But I teach [architecture, engineering, economics, plant genetics]. How is this my job?” Research shows that having nonpartisan conversations with students about voter registration, education, and turnout has an impact. Students trust their teachers, and taking a few minutes in class to share information is important. In fact, the Association of Chief Academic Officers in the U.S. recently released a statement affirming and supporting the faculty role in nonpartisan voter education.
If you use these materials, also be sure that the topic is nontransactional in your course. You can require that students learn about processes of democratic engagement and you can have course assignments that ask them to analyze societal issues or practice information literacy. However, you cannot allot points to students (even extra credit) for proving that they have registered to vote or have voted, as per federal statute.