Owens gets voter friendly campus designation

FINDLAY — Owens Community College has received a Voter Friendly Campus designation for 2025-26 from the Fair Election Center's Campus Vote Project and NASPA — Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education. The 2025 Voter Friendly Campus designation promotes colleges and university efforts to help students overcome barriers to participate in political processes every year. Owens was evaluated based on a written plan for how they planned to register, educate and turnout student voters in 2024, how they facilitated voter engagement efforts on campus, and upon a final analysis of the college's efforts. The Voter Friendly Campus program was started in 2016 — this is the first time Owens has received the designation. "Owens has always been committed to developing engaged citizens, who upon graduating from Owens have an understanding of community and civic engagement," said Krista Kiessling, director of Owens Campus and Community Connections, in a release from the college. "Most of our students will graduate and continue to work and live in this area, so it's important to us to build a culture that encourages active citizenship and involvement in local, state and federal elections. We will always do everything we can to encourage and support that effort." Owens is one of three colleges and universities in Northwest Ohio to receive the Voter Friendly Campus designation this year, and the fifth community college in the state. In 2023, Owens organized a Voter Engagement Team consisting of faculty and staff from Student Affairs, Academic Affairs and Marketing, to increase voter engagement on campus as well as increasing voter education. Tracked by a National Study of Learning, Voting and Engagement survey, from 2014 to 2020 Owens' voting rate for registered voters increased from 24.1% to 70.5%, with its registration rate increasing from 67.5% to 79%. In 2024, Owens had five visits from the Wood County League of Women's Voters to assist with voter registration and voter education. In November 2024, the college organized the voter engagement activity "Cakes with Blake," an event with Owens vice president of Enrollment Management and Student Affairs Blake Renner making pancakes and other breakfast items in the College Hall atrium.