Professor Anson's Paw Poll Shows Civic Engagement at UMBC

Fri, 24 Feb 2023 10:13:39 -0500

During the November 2022 election, students in Ian Anson's Public Opinion class had a unique opportunity to examine just how civically engaged UMBC students are, and they found the answers remarkable. The students designed and ran the first UMBC Paw Poll, a survey that gathered information about UMBC undergraduates' voting behavior and voter registration status, as well as numerous other factors.

"My guiding philosophy is to create applied-learning projects that have legs--that go beyond the classroom context," says Ian Anson, associate professor of political science. "I want students to experience how political science theories and applications impact communities--in this case, the UMBC community."

The Paw Poll found UMBC undergraduate students exceed national averages along measures of civic engagement. "UMBC students are the future leaders of our democracy. The Paw Poll is statistical evidence that Retrievers' civic engagement overwhelmingly outpaces other higher learning institutions in Maryland and beyond," says Anson.