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RIVERSIDE, Calif. (www.ucr.edu) – Dean David W. Stewart, dean of UC Riverside’s School of Business Administration (SoBA), is one of five distinguished marketing and communications scholars who helped assess and guide a communications plan for the 2010 U.S. Census. He said it will help communicate the importance of the census and encourage the public to respond.

“The marketing campaign for the 2010 Census is designed to encourage broad participation and an accurate count,” Stewart said. “Accuracy is critical because so many decisions are based on the Census. The number of representatives each state receives in the U.S. House of Representatives is determined by the count, but it is also used to make decisions about federal funding for schools, hospitals and a variety of other public services.”

The U.S. Census Bureau today announced that the panel agreed that both industry and academic best practices were used to develop the paid media portion of the 2010 Census Integrated Communications Campaign.

“My overall assessment is that the processes to develop the 2010 Census Integrated Communications Campaign are fundamentally sound,” said Academic Assessment Panel Chair Jerome D. Williams, the F.J. Heyne Centennial Professor in Communication at the University of Texas at Austin. “I feel the Census Bureau and the DraftFCB team have done an exceptional job and are to be applauded for what has been developed so far under very challenging conditions.” Other panelists were Rajeev Batra, S.S. Kresge Professor of Marketing, The University of Michigan; Felipe Korzenny, Professor and Founder/Director of the Center for Hispanic Marketing Communication, Florida State University; and Wendy Moe, Tenured Associate Professor of Marketing, The University of Maryland.

This was the first time the Census Bureau has commissioned an objective panel to review the communications campaign’s work prior to the conclusion of the decennial census.

“The Academic Assessment Panel’s recommendations have enhanced the 2010 Census Communications Campaign,” said Raul E. Cisneros, the chief of the Census Bureau’s 2010 Census Publicity Office. “Their completely independent and objective review allowed us to look at the work done to date on the campaign with fresh eyes and make improvements and refinements where needed,” Cisneros said.

“The Census Bureau must count everyone in this country once, only once, and in the right place, and a robust and effective communications campaign is vital to help us reach that goal. We are grateful for the very serious and intensive work the panel undertook in a short time frame,” added Cisneros.

The 2010 Census Integrated Communications Campaign is comprised of paid advertising, public relations, partnerships, online interaction and a Census in Schools program that have been designed and guided at every step of the process by detailed research. Each of these components will be crucial to increasing the public’s awareness of the 2010 Census and motivating participation in the decennial enumeration.

The 2010 Census is a count of everyone living in the United States and is mandated by the U.S. Constitution. Census data guide the distribution of more than $400 billion in federal funds to local, state and tribal governments each year. They're also used to determine Congressional apportionment and to help guide planning decisions, such as the placement of schools, hospitals, transportation, and business and industrial development. The 2010 Census questionnaire will be one of the shortest in history, consisting of 10 questions and taking about 10 minutes to complete. Strict laws protect the confidentiality of respondents and the information they provide.

The University of California, Riverside (www.ucr.edu) is a doctoral research university, a living laboratory for groundbreaking exploration of issues critical to Inland Southern California, the state and communities around the world. Reflecting California's diverse culture, UCR's enrollment has exceeded 20,500 students. The campus will open a medical school in 2013 and has reached the heart of the Coachella Valley by way of the UCR Palm Desert Center. The campus has an annual statewide economic impact of more than $1 billion.

A broadcast studio with fiber cable to the AT&T Hollywood hub is available for live or taped interviews. UCR also has ISDN for radio interviews. To learn more, call (951) UCR-NEWS.