For the first time in ACU’s history, the U.S. Census Bureau is partnering with ACU in an effort to get an accurate count of the nation’s population in 2010.

Census questionnaires are being sent to off-campus students March 15 and in April to students living on campus. Student involvement in the census is normally low, said Anna Perrey, administrative coordinator for Student Life and census project manager.

“Colleges are generally harder to keep track of because students don’t know that they should fill out the forms,” Perrey said. “They think it is something their parents do because they live with them.”

The goal of the census is to take a snapshot of the population at the time the questionnaires are gathered. The Census Bureau wants to know where every person is located at a specific time, regardless of whom they live with when they aren’t in school. ACU was chosen to help raise awareness of this process and to get as many students to participate as possible, Perrey said.

Faculty and staff are also asked to participate through campus activities, classroom discussion and some speaking engagements. March 8-12 has been dubbed “Census Week,” during which a booth will be set up in the McGlothlin Campus Center from 11:30-2 p.m. every day. Students will be handing out pamphlets and brochures to inform students further about the census, Perrey said.

In addition to Census Week, a booth will be set up when it is time to return census questionnaires. Students who return their questionnaires to this booth in the Campus Center will be entered in a drawing for a Chili’s gift certificate.

“We wanted to try and catch the students’ attention somehow,” Perrey said. “What better way is there than through their stomachs?”

Perrey said census data is useful and affects how the government distributes money throughout the country.

“It’s important to know how many people live in Abilene because it may mean the government gives the area more money,” Perrey said. “This affects college students because more money can be given to universities for grants and scholarships.”

Austin Holt, junior biblical text major from Granbury, said he believes students can benefit from participating in the census.

“If grants and scholarships are being affected by the number of people at ACU, then I think everyone should fill it out,” Holt said. “I am always looking for more scholarships, and if this can help get some, then I am all for it.”