The TerpsVote Coalition is a nonpartisan group of students, staff, and faculty at the University of Maryland whose mission is to increase civic engagement at the University of Maryland by providing educational resources and institutionalizing positive voting behavior.
TerpsVote Coalition Goals:
- Increase participation for students with majors in CMNS, Engineering, and Business, as well as for Graduate students in 2022 local, state, and federal elections through motivation, engagement, and education via campus events and social media.
- Mitigate barriers to student voting through increased information about voter registration, voting procedures, and absentee ballots.
- Maintain a non-partisan approach to voter engagement.
Time Commitment: 3-4 hours per week from September 6 – November 11, 2022
Compensation: $500 issued in a one-time stipend paid at the completion of the project.
In the 2018 Midterm Election, less than 50% of UMD students who were eligible to vote did so. In the 2020 Presidential Election, more than 71% of eligible undergraduate students cast a ballot.
TerpsVote Voting Ambassadors are UMD students who are passionate about engaging their peers in their colleges in the voting process for the Fall 2022 election. Voting Ambassadors will be knowledgeable about the voting procedures for college students and will serve as a resource to their peers to help promote voting.
Voting Ambassadors will be responsible for:
- Attending training and an initial meeting during the week of September 6.
- Making a commitment to non-partisan activities. Voting Ambassadors cannot promote individual candidates, parties, and issues while serving with TerpsVote, but will connect students to information from non-partisan sources.
- Understanding the procedures for registration and voting in MD, as well as other states from which UMD students come from, including New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Massachusetts, as well as where to get information about elections in those (and other) states.
- Promoting TurboVote and providing guided help for students registering
- Completing weekly tasks to help inform their fellow students about important voting information, including registration deadlines, absentee/mail-in ballot information, where to find resources to get informed to vote, etc. Weekly tasks may include:
- Posting/sharing TerpsVote branded content on social media
- Making class announcements about voting and communicating with faculty in their college
- Hosting information tables in common areas of the buildings in their college
- Talking about voting with student organizations in the college
- Communicating individually with students to help them through the voting process
- Completing weekly reporting to collect data of the reach of their efforts, including:
- Events held
- Email or other communication to students
- Approximate number of students reached
- Social media post response (likes/shares/reposts)
- Common questions they get from students or misinformation they had to address
Position & Application Requirements
Qualified candidates will demonstrate an interest in and basic knowledge of voting in the US, as well as demonstrate experience and skills in social media, communication, and/or education outreach. Additionally, Ambassadors will propose a promotional strategy for reaching other students in their college. Ambassadors MUST be enrolled at UMD College Park for the Fall 2022 semester (May or August 2022 graduates are not eligible).
Professional Expectations
Ambassadors are expected to perform responsibilities thoroughly and accurately and in a timely manner, according to schedule.
Communication and Accountability
Ambassadors will maintain regular communication with TerpVvote interns and Coalition co-chairs via email, providing updates about events, messaging, and issues. Ambassadors will attend weekly meetings with interns and co-chairs. Lastly, Ambassadors will track progress of projects and tasks.
