The California Faculty Association kicked off its annual student voter registration drive Monday, a nine-day event to get SF State students registered to vote for the Nov. 7 election.

The purpose of the drive is to get as many students registered, or re-registered, as possible, and to increase political awareness.

“In the 14 years we’ve been doing the voter registration on campus, over 15,000 students have registered to vote,” said SF State librarian Eloise McQuown, who is also the SF State political and legislative chair of the CFA. “I think it’s a great way for the faculty to come together with the students and accomplish a necessary goal.”

The CFA, which is running the event, will get assistance in the drive from the SF State Associated Students, Inc. and the Institute for Civic and Community Engagement.

There will be two designated areas where students can register to vote: at the library plaza, in front of the main entrance, and outside the first-floor lobby of the Humanities building.

The nonpartisan event will run for two consecutive weeks, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Thursday, although there will be one additional day to register on Oct. 23.

In 2004, according to a student voting survey compiled by the SF State Public Research Institute, 89 percent of all SF State students who were eligible to vote did so. The survey also found that student awareness increased from 39 percent in 2002 to 53 percent in 2004 because of the on-campus options for registering to vote.

McQuown said SF State is listed as one of the most politically active and socially conscious campuses in the country, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education, a university and college resource publication for faculty. Other local schools on the list are UC Berkeley, UC Santa Cruz and Humboldt State.

The Harvard Institute of Politics also recognized the coordinated efforts of campus faculty and administration, most notably SF State President Robert Corrigan, who, over the past few years, has sent mass e-mails to students reminding them to vote.

Aside from students, nearly 2,000 SF State faculty members are registered voters, which McQuown said is a very high number compared to other CSU campuses. McQuown also said there are voter registration drives at other campuses, just not on the same scale.

Last week, Associated Students Inc. sponsored a warm up to the CFA drive titled Storm the Dorms, where members of ASI, along with two representatives from the registrar’s office, set up a booth in the lobby of two predominantly freshman dorms, Mary Park and Mary Hall. A little more than 250 freshmen were registered through the afternoon and evening mini-drive, signaling an immediate success.

Hector Cardenas, the ASI director, said the group is working with the California State Students Association, and that they are about to start the next phase of their efforts.

"Right now, we're falling into our classroom presentations, which will take place the next few weeks in freshman-oriented classes," said Cardenas. "It's there where we'll be able to discuss the minute details that you would easily skip over about whether you need to re-register or not."

SF State librarian and CFA member, Mitch Turitz, will be working at the booth in front of the library, and said one of the most frequently asked questions from students about registering is whether they will be summoned for jury duty. Turitz said there are numerous other ways to make one eligible for jury duty, like applying for a driver's license.

As long as all the coordinated efforts go smoothly, McQuown said she anticipates between 1,000 and 1,500 students to be registered in the two-week period.

Although the records for the total amount of students who have registered on campus for each year were unavailable, McQuown is confident the event will be a success, regardless of the total, because of the civic service taking place on campus.

"Usually the student interest level builds towards the end of the registration period," McQuown said. "You know, like the ‘Hail Mary’ pass."