2010 United States Census Questionnaires will begin arriving in off-campus student mailboxes today.
Students off campus will receive the questionnaire earlier than students living in the residence halls, however, each returned survey makes a financial impact for the city and the state, University of Wisconsin spokesperson John Lucas said.
“Anybody who lives here or goes to school here wants to see Madison thrive and succeed; one way you can support that is just by filling out the form and returning it,” Lucas said.
According to Lucas, for every Madison resident that fills out the form, Madison’s city and county government receives $1,000 dollars in funding per year.
The form has 10 questions on it and should take about 10 minutes to fill out, Patrick Ryan, manager of Madison’s census office, said.
Ryan advised students who live off-campus with roommates to fill out one questionnaire as a single household.
“[A few people] taking a couple minutes of time can essentially add up to $10,000 dollars that can be used for schools and transit and health care locally,” Lucas said.
According to the 2010 Census website, in 2,000, 84 percent of census forms sent out to Dane County residents were returned.
This was 12 percent above the 2000 national participation rate of 72 percent.
The 2010 Census will not be available online.
Students who live in University Housing will receive the questionnaires in their mailboxes during the week of April 12, and should return the form to census workers who will be collecting them in hall lobbies, said Kay Reuter-Krohn, associate director of UW-Housing.
For students who live in Greek Houses, census workers will individually visit each house to assist in filling out the forms in the beginning of April, Lucas said.
International students should also fill out the form, Lucas added.
“The information used is strictly confidential. It doesn’t go to law enforcement or homeland security, so everyone can fill it out with confidence,” Lucas said.
Ryan said his biggest concern is students being apathetic and not filling out the form.
“We understand that filling out the form may not be a top priority as a person, but we’re asking everyone to make it a priority because it has a really big impact on not only the number of seats that the state has in congress, but also on funding and getting Wisconsin its share of federal funding,” Lucas said.
The “Portrait of America Road Tour” will visit State Street Mall Wednesday, March 17, and will provide students with an opportunity to learn more about the importance of participating in the census, such as answering questions and hosting giveaways, Ryan said.
Following Wednesday’s event on State Street, there will be a Questionnaire Assistance Center set up in Memorial Union from March 18 through the month of April where students can go with questions.
“Based upon the number of forms that are returned, census workers will begin knocking on doors beginning the week of April 26, encouraging people to fill out their form and helping them fill it out if necessary,” Ryan said.
