University, community gear up for 2010 Census
March 15, 2010
Students and community members looking to increase funding for the City of Whitewater and the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater are only 10 simple questions away.
The 2010 Census is hitting the city of Whitewater in March and April and brings with it a great chance for federal funding to be allocated to the city and university.
"State governments get educational funding from the federal government by using a population formula to dole out the funds," Whitewater Student Government Legislative Affairs Director, Scott Coenen said.
Coenen has been working with Carrie Buckman, the City of Whitewater's human resources manager, to promote census participation to students and community members. According to Coenen and Buckman, per census rules, students need to fill out census forms in Whitewater, not at home, because this is their residence for a majority of the year.
The city's goal this year is to increase the number of respondents who returned data by mail, as it's the most inexpensive way of gathering data. As one of the main determinants of government funding for educational institutions as well as communities, the census is very important to the city and university.
"It's important to have the most accurate count we can have in order to try and increase the federal money allocated in Whitewater," Buckman said. "If we're not accurate, we won't receive the funds we need."
In 2000, students and Hispanics were the most underrepresented groups. To try and increase participation of Hispanics, forms are being printed in both English and Spanish and are also being distributed in churches. Resident assistants will directly distribute forms to UW-Whitewater students living on campus instead of leaving them in mailboxes like in 2000.
With less than 20 percent of UW-Whitewater's funding coming from government sources, Coenen sees this year's census as an important opportunity to possibly increase funding.
"This is definitely an opportunity to obtain new funding and to show our growth," he said.
Census forms consist of 10 questions that ask for information, including: age, gender, race, marital status, employment status, etc. Forms will be distributed to on-campus residents in April. Off-campus residents should receive their forms by mail soon if they have not already.
Three census questionnaire assistance centers will be set up in Whitewater and anyone with questions on how to complete their form is encouraged to visit one of these locations:
- James R. Connor University Center, UW-Whitewater campus
- St. Patrick’s Catholic Church, 1235 W. Main St.
- Irvin L. Young Memorial Library, 431 W. Center St.