Empowering Student Voters with Nonpartisan Digital Prompts

�PLAYBOOK

Last updated: October 8, 2024

Overview

Digital voter registration prompts can boost student civic participation.

In 2020, youth between 18-24 registered to vote at rates 13 percentage points lower than the national average.

Youth voter registration is low

Colleges have unique access to this demographic

Nearly 18 million undergraduates enrolled at colleges in Spring of 2024. Students trust their schools more than most institutions.

Digital prompts drive impact

College Board serves up a digital voter registration prompt to eligible students when they log-in to their accounts. This prompt has driven more than 200k registrations in 2024 alone.

Colleges can use configurable features of common campus systems to set up similar prompts in under 30 minutes.

For example, colleges can surface prompts as:

A global announcement in an LMS

A checklist item in course registration

A prompt in a student portal

See full guide for more examples.

Guides and Examples

Examples, How-To’s, and Best Practices

Contents:

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• Sample Copy & Tips for Success�
• Learning Management System Examples
• Canvas
• Brightspace
• Moodle�
• Student Information System Examples
• PeopleSoft�
• Student Portal Examples
• Ellucian Experience
• Slate
• Other Student Portals�
• Other Systems
• GivePulse
• Single Sign-On

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This section includes guidance on how to set up nonpartisan prompts in different systems, with examples of institutions that are doing so effectively.

Overall Guidance for Success: Prompt Basics

What should be in the prompt?

• Keep the prompt brief, with a direct call to action: Ex:

“Your voice matters. We encourage all eligible students to register to vote. It only takes two minutes.

Not sure if you’re registered? Check your status here.”

• If most of your students will be voting in the same state, you can include the voter registration deadline.
• If a registration deadline has passed, change the copy to encourage students to get ready and vote!

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Where should it link to? The prompt should link directly to a voter registration portal. You have a few options:

• ALL IN portal: This free portal in any state and provides easy access to other resources on registration and voting.
• State page: If all students will be voting in the same state, you can link to the state voter registration page.
• Custom portal: If you already have a voting portal custom to your institution, you can send students there. If you would like to set one up for free, email stephanie@civicnation.org.

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When should I post the prompt? (Note: Prompt copy should change to reflect the timing of its posting. )

• When there is an upcoming local or national election: Prompt should be posted ~1 month before the registration deadline.
• Beginning of the term: Students may have moved and need to update their registration or understand options.
• End of the school year: Students may be moving again.

Overall Guidance for Success: Maximizing Effectiveness

Who should be involved? The team that leads civic engagement, an IT admin who can make changes in the system where the prompt will be, and the college president or other leaders. If you’re embedding the prompt in course registration, include the Registrar.

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How can I make sure students see and act on the prompt?

• Make the prompt as unavoidable as possible. Pin it to the top of a page, make students acknowledge it, etc.
• Add an image to make the prompt more visible. If your campus already has a logo for voting engagement efforts, use that.
• Embed the prompt in multiple places! Make it a to-do item, add it to a banner announcement, send emails and text messages.

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Learning Management Systems

• Use this section to find examples and guides for how to set up prompts in Canvas, Brightspace and Moodle.�
• For Learning Management Systems, most prompts can be set up globally so they are available to all students, or at the course level so they only show up in a students course when they are enrolled.�
• We recommend working with your LMS prompts globally. If this isn’t possible, make it as easy as possible for faculty to put prompts in their courses.

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Canvas: Global Announcements

Example: Weber State University

How to set something up:

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• Use the Global Announcements feature in Canvas to pin a banner announcement to the home page. Click here for step by step instructions.
• Tip: Involve your LMS admin. It’s often helpful to have support from a senior leader who can advocate for the prompt’s importance.
• Time Needed: <30 min

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Canvas: Multiple Feature Approach

So that students would receive the message to register and vote in multiple places, Northern Virginia Community College used multiple Canvas features, including a dedicated course, to get the word out. See here for a case study.

NOVA will post global announcements for National Voter Registration Day, the start of early voting, the voter registration deadline, and Election Day to remind students to take action.

NOVA will use the Calendar to create to-do items for National Voter Registration Day, the start of early voting, the voter registration deadline, and Election Day. Items show up on students homepage.

NOVA has a “Virtual Student Union” course in Canvas that all students are enrolled in. It embeds a Google slide into a “Bulletin Board” section to post an image encouraging students to vote with important dates.

Brightspace: Global Announcements

Examples: Delta College & Vanderbilt University

How to set something up:

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• Set up a Global Announcement that shows up on students home page and pin it to the top. Click here for step by step instructions
• Tip: Involve your LMS admin. It’s often helpful to have support from a senior leader who can advocate for the prompt’s importance.
• Time Needed: <30 min

Moodle: HTML Block

Example

How to set something up:

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• Add an HTML text block to students home page and pin it to the top. Use an image to make it engaging. Click here for step by step instructions provided by Moodle.
• Tip: Involve your LMS admin. It’s often helpful to have support from a senior leader who can advocate for the prompt’s importance.
• Time Needed: <30 min

Student Information Systems

• Use this section to find examples and guides for how to set up prompts in PeopleSoft.
• If you are setting up a prompt as part of a course registration process, you’ll want to involve your Registrar as well as your IT administrator.

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Peoplesoft: Activity Guides

Example: University of Chicago

How to set something up:

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• Use the Activity Guides feature in PeopleSoft to make voter registration an action item in a mandatory student flow (University of Chicago embedded their prompt into an annual activity where students confirm their contact information and emergency contacts).
• Configure the action item so students must acknowledge it to move on to the next step.
• Click here for step-by-step instructions
• Tip: Involve your IT Admin for your SIS and the registrar.
• Time Needed: <1 hour

Student Portals

• Use this section to find examples and guides for how to set up prompts in Ellucian Experience, Slate, and other student portals.

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Ellucian Experience: Announcements and Cards

Card

How to set something up:�

• Ellucian has created templates for cards and announcements within Ellucian Experience. See here for a brief guide with custom images.
• Ellucian customers can read read more details in the Experience Community in the Ellucian Customer Center. Look for a post from Rebecca Dias titled ‘Help Empower Student Voices: Join Our Voter Registration Campaign!’
• Time Needed: <30 min

Announcement

Make it Easy For Students to Shape the Future

To implement our pre-built voter registration card on Ellucian Experience:

1. Access the Card: The "Register to Vote" card is already in the Card Management table within Ellucian Experience Configuration.
2. Edit the Card: Select "Edit" for the voter registration card to adjust the title and theme color to match your institution’s branding.
3. Assign the Card: Push to relevant Roles at your institution to ensure all U.S. students receive the voter registration information.

DRIVE STUDENT REGISTRATION

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CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPRIETARY

Slate: Student Portals

University Example: University of Richmond

How to set something up:

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• Use the Student Portals feature in Slate to embed the announcement into the the portal in which you want the prompt to show up. University of Richmond used the portal they use to onboard new students.
• Set the announcement to show up until the voter registration deadline in your state. Filter it to show to students who are US citizens.
• Click here for step-by-step instructions.
• Time Needed: <30 min

Other Student Portals (examples page 1)

Many universities post announcements in their student portals. Announcements are typically posted around National Voter Registration Day and stay up through November 5.

Features used will depend on the backend for your portal, but should be easy to set up. Work with IT to find the best approach and get leadership on board early!

Student Portals (examples page 2)

University of Virginia

Other Systems

• Use this section to find examples and guides for how to set up prompts in GivePulse and via Single Sign-On

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GivePulse

Example: Bates College

How to set something up:

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• Create a modular pop-up to present as a banner in your institution’s Give Pulse platform.
• To activate the announcement into the the platform, confirm which voter registration tool the popup should link to (i.e., ALL IN, TurboVote).
• Set the announcement to show up until the voter registration deadline in your state or keep active throughout key time frames to support engagement in case students eligible to vote are doing so in different states.
• Give Pulse can support activation of the banner reach out to brian@givepulse.com or sophia@givepulse.com to learn more.
• Time Needed: <30 min
• Link: www.givepulse.com

Single-Sign On

Example: College Board

Tips for success:

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• Embedding a prompt in your single-sign on can be tremendously effective because all eligible students will see the reminder as soon as they log-in to campus systems.
• Target the prompt so it only shows up to U.S. citizens, and set a limit on the number of times a student sees it before you stop showing it.
• Because a single-sign on integration often involves multiple systems and more complex technical processes, involve IT early. And get campus leadership involved for support!
• College Board can also insights on their prompt and is working on developing a tool to make single-sign on integration easy: reach out to jebrown@collegeboard.org to learn more.

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