2020 Census

Every ten years, the United States Census Bureau collects a count of all U.S. residents and information about them based on where they normally live on April 1, 2020. Normally that would have been here on campus, with paper surveys distributed to your University Housing mailboxes.

With the suspension of contracts and on-going move-out, we want you to know that you still are counted here, on campus! This is because the Census seeks to count people where they normally live on April 1.

Our University Housing office staff is working with the Census Bureau to make sure students living in our residence halls and Kenilworth Square Apartments are included in the Census. Not only is your participation required, the census results steer millions of state and federal dollars to our community. Services like roads, public safety and other services students and staff depend on.

Since most of you are not here to complete a response, here is what we have done for all residents who lived in University Housing as of March 10: Using student records called “directory information” we will supply the Census Bureau with the following information to complete census on your behalf: Student Name, Student Local Address, Student Permanent Address. You do not need to take any action.

We are also bound to respect your privacy. We are only permitted to release information you have previously consented to including your name and campus address. Some students on campus have opted to be excluded from this “directory information”.

If you would like to restrict your information from being shared with the Census Bureau, please go to PAWS.uwm.edu. After logging in, scroll down to your personal information section. At the bottom of that section, look for a link to “Change Contact Restriction”. Please complete this step by April 26, 2020 to ensure you are not included in UWM’s reporting.

If you have requested directory information to be kept private, you will not be counted by our UWM method. In that instance, please visit my2020census.gov, select “If you do not have a Census ID” and complete the Census using your campus address.

What is considered directory information?

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, in accordance with FERPA, has designated the following categories of information about individual students as public, or directory information. https://uwm.edu/directory-privacy/

  • Student’s name, address (mailing, home, email), telephone number;
  • Date (month and day) and place of birth;
  • Designation of school/college and level in school;
  • Major field of study;
  • Dates of attendance, including whether or not currently enrolled;
  • Campus;
  • Enrollment status, including semester credit load and part/full time status;
  • Degrees earned and dates of graduation (includes anticipated graduation dates);
  • Honors and awards received, including academic awards (receipt of a scholarship or fellowship, inclusion on the Dean’s list, or receipt of other academic awards);
  • Participation in officially recognized activities and sports;
  • Height and weight of members of athletic teams;
  • Previous education institutions attended;
  • Enrollment Delivery Mode.

If you are interested in learning more about UWM’s approach to the census, please visit https://uwm.edu/neighborhoodhousing/2020-census/. Remember – students in University Housing should NOT complete their own census survey, nor be included on any other survey.