Civic Engagement Fellows

OK Votes is sponsored by the Carl Albert Center and is the University’s nonpartisan, student-led civic engagement initiative focused on one goal: ensuring students are informed, registered, and ready to participate.

OK Votes is an active organization built around three core priorities:

• Educate
• Register
• Mobilize

The goal is simple: increase civic participation and ensure every student has the tools and access they need to be vote-ready.

Each year, two undergraduate students are selected as Civic Engagement Fellows to lead OK Votes. The Fellows set strategy, manage the executive team, and lead the university’s largest civic engagement efforts especially during major election cycles. Fellows receive a $1,250 stipend per semester ($2,500 per academic year) deposited into the student’s bursar account.

Civic Engagement Fellows don’t just participate - they produce results:

• Fellows have been published on the Forbes Civic Nation channel, highlighting innovative strategies to increase student civic participation: Bringing Democracy to the Dorms: Making Civic Engagement Unavoidable
• Three Fellows in the last four years have been named to the National Student Voting Honor Roll (fewer than 150 students selected nationwide each year)
• Ensuring OU is consistently recognized as a “Voter Friendly Campus”
• In 2024–2025, OK Votes was named one of the Top 6 Most Outstanding Nonpartisan Campus Voting Groups in the nation by the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge

The Fellows are supported by the OK Votes Executive Team which runs the day-to-day operations of OK Votes. The Executive Team has four chairs:

Public Relations Chair: Leads marketing, social media, and campus-wide messaging.

Programming Chair: Plans and executes events including debate watch parties, election programming, and civic education initiatives.

Membership Chair: Builds and manages the volunteer and ambassador network across campus.

Coalition Outreach Chair: Develops partnerships with student organizations, campus offices, and community groups.

Executive Team members receive a $500 stipend per semester ($1,000 per academic year) deposited into the student’s bursar account.

The Executive Team leads the university’s civic engagement work, including:

• Hosting National Voter Registration Day and major registration drives
• Running tabling and classroom outreach across campus
• Organizing debate and election watch parties
• Bringing in elected officials and public leaders for campus events
• Representing OU at Higher Education Day at the State Capitol
• Raising awareness of civic engagement and responsibility by making participation visible, accessible, and part of everyday campus life

OK Votes is a leadership opportunity for students who want to run real operations, build campus-wide partnerships, and lead efforts that have measurable impact.

Applications to become a Civic Engagement Fellow or an OU Votes Executive Team Chair for the 2026 - 2027 academic year are now open. The application deadline is April 12, 2026 at 5 pm. 

Click the "Apply Now" link below for details about the application requirements. Contact Faith Martin at faithm@ou.edu  for more information.

APPLY NOW