Student Leadership in Civic Engagement
Supporting UMW students as they begin a life of engaged citizenship.
The Voting Ambassadors are part of the UMW Votes program. The Voting Ambassadors are interns at the Center for Community Engagement who support members of our UMW community as they develop the skills, habits, and knowledge needed for a life of engaged citizenship. The internships are a great way to develop leadership skills in civic engagement, and can provide up to three academic credits. Fill out this form to submit your application to the UMW Voting Ambassador program.
The UMW Center for Community Engagement is seeking to fill 4-5 internship positions for Voting Ambassadors for spring semester 2021. You can volunteer for service hours, academic credit, or simply as an internship. There are no local elections in spring 2021, but we can prepare for fall 2021 when there are several statewide elections. In spring 2021, Voting Ambassadors will do mostly academic work, conducting research and coming up with action plans for the fall. Interns will learn more about civic engagement in Virginia, project management, marketing, and voting on the UMW campus. Students will be expected to work between 3-10 hours per week.
Voting Ambassador Responsibilities
1. Voter registration:
a. Interns will learn how to register new and existing UMW students for both local and absentee voting.
b. Interns will meet with Fredericksburg Registrar to receive training and make sure they are aware of local and other voter registration requirements.
c. Interns will table throughout student orientation and the months of September and October to increase voter registration among UMW students.
d. Interns will serve as resources for any students that are interested in registering to vote.
2. Voter education:
a. Interns will produce educational materials related to both local and absentee voting (directions to polling places, maps, deadlines related to absentee and local voting, etc.)
b. Interns will table and provide educational materials throughout student orientation and the months of September and October to educate voters regarding voting options and the value of registering to vote.
c. Interns will build relationships among campus student groups regarding civic engagement.
3. Voter mobilization
a. Interns will learn to use social media to inform and educate student voters.
b. Interns will implement a communications campaign using campus media/communications platforms the month leading up to Election Day reminding students about the importance of civic engagement and voting.