The at 426 W. Bloom St. is one of only a few such centers nationally situated at a university, according to demographer Matt Ruther, center director and associate professor of urban and public affairs in the College of Arts and Sciences. He and the center’s longtime research manager, Tom Sawyer, are well-attuned to the importance of the once-a-decade snapshot of the nation’s population. Their advice: “Answer the census. Please!”

“There’s a tremendous amount of funding tied to the decennial census,” Ruther said. The U.S. Census Bureau, which conducts the constitutionally mandated count, reports those numbers will influence how hundreds of billions of dollars (an estimated $675 billion) in federal aid will flow into states. The census also affects how many U.S. House of Representatives seats are allotted to each state and how Kentucky’s federal and state legislative districts are drawn.

The count’s accuracy has a long-lasting effect also in each state. “We produce our own in-house population projections, which are based on the reported census counts,” Sawyer said. Several government agencies are required to use those projections, and KSDC works with 31 affiliate government agencies and all the area development districts involved in community planning.

In addition, “All of our annual population estimates for the next decade are going to be based on the results of the census,” Ruther said.

“The better the census is, the better the estimates will be in 2023 and 2026 and on,” Sawyer said. “It adds to the quality.”

This is the first year the census form is available online as well as by phone or mail for residents to complete.

For UofL students who normally reside in university-managed residence halls or Greek housing, the university already has counted them as part of what the census defines as group quarters.

President Neeli Bendapudi sent an email last week urging full participation in the 2020 census. “Let’s commit to each being counted to shape our collective future,” she said. Check UofL’s census information

And Gov. Andy Beshear has included in his daily televised coronavirus updates a plea for Kentuckians to complete their forms and all be counted.

KSDC staff members want to allay people’s qualms about participating in the count, as there are laws that protect the information’s confidentiality and there are no citizenship questions included.

“If anybody has questions or fears, give us a call,” Sawyer said. KSDC’s number is 502-852-7990. If you have not yet filled out your decennial census online, the website to do so is .

The board of trustees approved a new Bachelor of Arts in Sustainability degree at its meeting Sept. 22. Classes will begin next fall.

The degree will be the first undergraduate degree housed in the Department of Urban and Public Affairs (UPA), which coordinates several master’s degrees including the new Master of Interdisciplinary Studies: Concentration in Sustainability that began enrolling students this fall.

“We have been working for several years to make this bachelor’s degree a reality,” said David Simpson, PhD, chair of UPA and of the university’s 60-member Sustainability Council. “I know that graduates of this degree will make a difference in their own communities and the world.”

UofL is leading the way in programs and education in sustainability, he said, adding that creating the degree “positions graduates to be thought leaders and solution seekers in the many facets of sustainability, from the environment to health, conservation and community quality of life, among many others.”

Simpson noted that UofL is the only university in the state to receive the top sustainability ranking from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher ����ֱ��, earning a gold STARS ranking earlier this year. In addition, The Sierra Club ranked UofL in the Top 50 of its 2016 “” (No. 43).

The new bachelor’s degree program will train students to research, identify, implement and monitor sustainable processes and systems. It is designed to prepare students for future careers in sustainability-related endeavors, including the environment, energy, climate change, public policy, transportation, and urban and regional planning. It will also serve as a well-rounded base to allow students to pursue graduate training in affiliated fields of study. The degree is designed as an interdisciplinary program and will require a minimum of 124 hours to complete.

The degree program proposal was based on models from other university programs, several years of discussion at the university among interested departments, and through the Sustainability Council. The Faculty Senate recommended the creation of the Bachelor of Arts degree in Sustainability during its May meeting, and the Council on Postsecondary ����ֱ�� 45-day review of the preproposal was completed on July 22.