U.S. Census to be released throughout dorms next month

Starting next month, census workers will begin a major push to collect data from more than 850,000 Delaware residents, including the 15,000 that reside in the university. 

"Ten questions, 10 minutes and you do not get another chance for 10 years," said Anna Ungerer, local census office manager. "It's important for everyone to be counted because it affects funding for the next 10 years — schools, roads, how they look at each area and its needs."

Ungerer is responsible for making sure the entire state of Delaware, including all students at the university, are properly counted in the 2010 United States census.

According to the US Census Bureau Web site, college students are the most difficult group to count because of the uncertainty of whether they should fill out their own form or be counted by their parents.

At the university, students who live in residence halls will receive surveys in their mailboxes, said Temeca White, group quarter supervisor.

"Basically, we want every person to feel accountable and counted," White said. "RAs will give students the first chance to do it on their own. They are adults and we want them to get used to filling it out for themselves."

Kathleen Kerr, director of residence life, said the university has been preparing staff to help with the big census push next month. The census will be distributed to students and returned to resident assistants.

"The RAs will give them to their complex coordinators, who will then meet with the field workers to collect them," Kerr said. "The distribution will be just like they get any mail, but we're trying to make the return as easy as possible. They don't have to label it or put a stamp on it."

Under federal law, the census bureau can request student records from the university, she said, but because the census is an important process for the students to participate in, the university is hoping students will fill out their own forms before the census bureau has to request records.

"It's something that only happens every 10 years," Kerr said. "It's short; it doesn't take that much time. It's an important part of being a member of the community, being counted. I'm very much in favor of trying to educate students of the value of participating in the census and getting so many to fill it out."   

She said the census forms will be distributed after Spring Break and students will then have a few weeks to fill them out.

The local census office has also been working with Greek life to assure all students in recognized sorority and fraternity houses are properly counted.

"We have 14 houses on campus and the census met with us in the fall and asked us to prep the sororities and fraternities, saying that the census reps would be coming to the houses to give out surveys," said Matt Lenno, assistant director of student life. "They got the contact info for the chapter presidents and they will be setting up meetings in the houses so they can answer the census when they are there."

Ungerer said students who are worried about confidentiality can put their fears to rest.

"The forms are handed back in sealed envelopes and all the people who touch the forms, RAs and complex coordinators included, are sworn in," she said. "They are sworn in for life to protect the confidentiality of the students."

Ungerer said if the oath they take is broken, they can be fined more than $250,000 or sentenced to up to five years of jail time because it is against the law to disclose personal census data.

Newark Mayor Vance A. Funk III also stressed the importance of the census for the city of Newark and for the university.

"Under federal law, anybody living here is supposed to fill out the census form for Newark," Funk said. "That includes out-of-state students and international students. There are over 800 citizens from China living in Newark and they all count in our census totals."

He said the city missed 3,000 people during the last census, which could have helped bring more money to Newark. The number of people counted also affects the grants the university receives.

"They help us get bigger federal and state grants. The more people you have in your city, the better grants you get," Funk said. "I would definitely think that the university would want the highest count possible as well because many of their grants are tied to the number of people who live in the community."

He said it is important for everyone to register and take the census.

Ungerer hopes that there won't be any confusion. She said the census forms state that if a child is in college and lives on campus, they will be counted at school.

"We want to count everyone once and count them in the right place," she said. "It's fast, it's easy, it's important."