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Swag Cab is a budding event implemented

by the Ball State University Residence Hall

Association (RHA) in collaboration with the

University Police Department (UPD). The physical

Swag Cab is a golf cart provided by the UPD and is

driven by an officer from the department. As the

Swag Cab makes its way around campus, rides are

offered to students and faculty on their way to

class, their Residence Hall, or meetings around

campus. As they ride, a RHA volunteer asks them a

series of Ball State related trivia questions, and for

every question the rider answers correctly, they

receive Swag Cab themed prizes.

Swag Cab has the ability to become a strong

campus tradition, especially this year with an added date

during Homecoming week. The event not only builds Ball

State pride by allowing students to learn more about their

home institution, but also allows RHA to gain recognition

across campus. This event also creates bonds among the

students with the UPD officers, which allows the students

and faculty to recognize who is keeping them safe on

campus and makes them feel more comfortable to

approach an officer, whether it be for an issue or not.

Every time we host a Swag Cab on campus, we are able

to provide rides to around 50 students in two hours, and

also another 150 students at the Scramble Light during

that time. In total, RHA reaches about 500

students per Swag Cab.

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Ball State Residence Hall Association

had several goals in mind when

creating this program. The major

goal was to create an event that

would develop into an on campus

tradition. RHA, as it stood before

Swag Cab, was lacking a “staple

event” or an event that was

attributed to the organization. What

makes this event unique and

tradition-quality is the fact that it

goes to the students, rather than the

other way around. By changing the

programming model in this way,

and holding the event multiple

times a semester, Swag Cab is able

to reach more students each time,

and the awareness of the program

spreads more efficiently. We also

wanted to make sure that each

student was able to walk away from

this program with something

tangible in order to get students

excited about the program and its

future, as well as spread awareness

of RHA as an organization.

Another goal of this program was to

allow the University Police to expand

on their community policing

program. Community policing is the

process in which the UPD becomes a

part of the community of Ball State

and develops relationships with

students and faculty in order to

effectively maintain safety around

campus, and to better understand

campus culture. This is a major focus

of the UPD, and Swag Cab allowed

them to reach out to the community

in a new and exciting way, and

allowed them an amount of fast-

paced interactions with contestants.

This partnership allowed students to

begin to recognize these officers and

become more comfortable with their

presence on campus. In a time

where relationships with authority are

sometimes tumultuous, this program

allowed students to connect and feel

safe on the campus they call home.

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The program was first suggested at the RHA Executive Board Summer

Retreat, where the major subject of conversation was creating an entirely new

schedule of programs for RHA, which needed to be unique and not already

offered by another source on campus. Swag Cab was first implemented at the

end of the spring 2016 semester, and has continued into the fall 2016 semester.

The first step in the organization of this event was to procure a golf cart

for on-campus use. This is where the UPD came in. Community policing is a

subject that was first brought to RHA’s attention at a Cardinal Leadership

Roundtable, where presidents of organizations come together and discuss

strategies to move forward and to receive information about campus

resources. UPD Chief Jim Duckham explained the goal of community

policing, and RHA saw this as an opportunity to become involved with an

important part of campus. They were able to provide a golf cart, and an

officer for each shift to drive the cart. They were more than willing to do this

free of charge and were very excited to partner with our organization.

Prizes

100:

Stress Balls

Lanyards

Plastic cups

Drawstring

Bags

250:

T-shirts

designed with

RHA and Swag

Cab logos

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The questions we used were pulled from the Ball State University official

website in order to have accurate information about campus that was also fun

and challenging. The Activities Director of RHA was very thorough in her curating

of questions and ended up with 31 Ball State trivia facts for riders to answer. She

made sure that the questions were not too difficult as to discourage, but also

made them challenging enough that not every person got the top prize, which

was a t-shirt. But, no matter what, we always made sure that each contestant

was able to leave with something in order for them to remember Swag Cab.

We wanted to use this program as an opportunity to involve some of our

new representatives and also let them interact with the Executive Board outside

of a meeting setting. We had our representatives sign up with our Activities

Director to volunteer to set up, tear down, and ask questions at the Scramble

Light. Swag Cab is an event that does not require much volunteer power, but

still allowed some of the representatives to be involved and made the process

of Swag Cab easier all the same.

In order to reach a larger amount of students, and to have a base area to

store prizes, we also set up a trivia and prize location at one of the most highly

trafficked areas on Ball State’s campus; the Scramble Light. The Scramble Light is

a four-way crosswalk that is the main connection from one side of campus to the

other. By providing a station there, we were able to reach more students, and

allowed them to receive swag without a ride on the Cab. We also played music

throughout our time at the Scramble Light in order to draw people into a fun

atmosphere.

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Friday, September 23

Friday, October 7

Friday, October 21

9:45 am - Meet at RHA Office to gather prizes

10:00 am - Set up at Scramble Light

10:15 am - UPD and golf cart arrives

10:30 am - Swag Cab begins!

11:45 am - Golf cart returns to Scramble Light, clean

up begins

12:00 pm - All items returned to RHA Office

*This schedule is the same for all days of Swag Cab

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Most of our advertising for this program was done through the form of printed fliers.

The fliers, which are poster size, 13 by 17 inches, include the logo for RHA and Swag

Cab, and also the three dates we set for Swag Cab in the fall semester. This system

allowed our Public Relations Director to only have to create one item for all three

runs of the event, and not have to reprint a flier for each occurrence, especially

since they were so close together. This also saved the organization money on

printing.

Social media was also a very important element of advertising for Swag Cab. The first

time Swag Cab was implemented in the spring of 2015, the Assistant Director of

Marketing, Communication, and Technology for Housing and Residence Life sent

two of her interns to film and create a promotional video for Swag Cab, which we

used in many capacities leading up to each run of the program. We integrated this

video into our social media campaign for the event, while also sharing pictures of

swag that could be won throughout the event and a digital copy of the flier.

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Another tool we used in the implementation and advertising of this program

was branding. Ball State RHA has been going through a rebranding process

beginning last semester, and moving into this current semester. This rebranding

process included a color scheme or maroon and blue, and also a logo change. We

utilize Swag Cab as one of the first events to use this branding method, and, in the

process, a Swag Cab logo was also created. By placing this logo on all giveaways

and promotional materials, Swag Cab has begun to develop its own brand that

closely follows that of RHA. The event has slowly been gaining traction and notoriety

around campus, and is on it’s way to securing a place as a campus tradition.

After the first run of the event for the semester, we created a photo album on

Facebook that included photos taken by one of RHA’s talented advisors. The photos

were high quality and allowed students who participated to recognize themselves

and share the photo album. The album reached 943 people on Facebook through

shares and likes. Since this was at the end of our first run of Swag Cab for the

semester, the pictures seen by other students stimulated buzz around the , and also

made students excited to share their experience with Swag Cab.

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Expenses

T-Shirts $1125

Stress Balls $94

Lanyards $239.54

Cups $380

Frisbees $218

Drawstring

Bags $385

Promotional

Materials $238

Total $2,679.54

The funding for this program is written into the current RHA organizational

budget under the Activities line item, which contains $7000 total, or around

18% of the total budget. The RHA organizational budget is a combination of

an allocation from Housing and Residence Life based on the population of the

Residence Halls, and various fundraisers that RHA facilitates during the

summer, which includes selling carpets, linens, and care packages to new and

returning students.

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This event is still in its budding stages, but has created an

impact all the same. An event of this kind has not existed on Ball

State’s campus, and it has been well-received by students and

staff alike. Swag Cab bags and t-shirts can be seen all over

campus, demonstrating that the students appreciate the

practicality of the prizes they receive from participating in this

event. The reaction from the University Police has also been very

positive. They often tell us how much they enjoy the event, and

how students will ask them about when the next Swag Cab will

be happening and how they get the chance to participate.

UPD loves having the opportunity to interact with a wide range

of students, and this program is able to provide them that

chance.

Swag Cab has also allowed the RHA Executive Board to

directly interact with students on an individual level, which is

something that not many of our programs afford us. Being able

to brighten a student’s day with something as small as a stress

ball always makes the Executive Board members excited about

the program, and their enthusiasm translates to the students

that ride on the cab as well. The program is starting to make a

difference on campus, and is working its way to becoming a

strong campus tradition in the near future.

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This event can definitely be adapted to other

campuses across the nation. All you need is a

mode of transportation, some trivia questions, and

most importantly, some swag! Questions do not

have to be campus themed, but can be about

whatever is relevant for the university and campus

at the time. The giveaways, of course, can vary

depending on budget and necessity. The most

difficult part is finding and securing a golf cart, or

some form of transportation in general. Reaching

out to UPD worked well for us, and is good place

to start, but each campus has a different

relationship with their campus police force, so the

results may vary. Being sure to check on your

campus’s restrictions on golf carts and other

vehicles is an important step as well. We hope this

event is one that you can adapt and transform

into your own, and one that will be as beneficial

to you as it was to Ball State.

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Something that we would

like to keep in mind for the future

is the golf cart battery. The cart

can only go about an hour

without having to rest for a

charge. We have had to be very

stringent when it comes to

battery use, and we have had to

cut the time of Swag Cab down

some due to the issue. We are in

the process of working with the

UPD on a system that could

extend the length of the event,

and allow us to reach more

students. Our hope is to be active

during more of the busy hours of

the day instead of just the

morning, and stretching the life of

the golf cart battery is an

important step in that process.

Overall, this event is something that RHA truly enjoys putting on

and is an authentic event to our campus. By reaching both the goals of

creating tradition and benefitting the community policing model, the

event is very successful with room to grow. We cannot wait to see how

Swag Cab develops as it cements itself as a unique campus tradition.

We also want to change up

some of the questions. We hope to

expand to themed days of

questions as the year goes on,

which will not only expand our

range of questions, but also the kind

of prizes we can give. For example,

we have the idea of creating a

holiday themed Swag Cab, and

with giveaways including hats,

scarves, and even socks. Expanding

our questions will allow a wider

range of students to fully participate

and add some intrigue to the event.

We also hope to create another

promotional video and more

promotional graphics that can

reach campus through social

media. Our social media reach has

grown significantly throughout the

year, and we want to take

advantage of that growth with new

promotional materials.

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Dear GLACURH, I am writing on behalf of my absolute favorite program here at Ball State: Swag Cab. Swag Cab is a social program that goes on multiple times a semester that consists of a golf cart, driven by a police officer, taking students to class while they answer questions about BSU for a chance to win awesome swag! I was actually a part of the original planning for this event, at a time when RHA was very lost in direction and was lacking dynamic and interesting program that was interesting for the students. I am thrilled that it has come to fruition so soon and has been so well received by all the students and faculty who participate in the event. Swag Cab is very unique, and I believe that this dynamic program brings joy to a wide variety of students each time it happens. Questions range from, how many bells are in the bell tower, to how many acres does the campus sit on. RHA has partnered with our UPD to make this program come alive. The officers that donate their time are often happy to do it, and hilarious to boot. The students get to interact with different officers and sometimes ask questions about their job. It is a great way to bring students closer to the officers that protect them and show that they are only on campus to help them. The students have truly taken to this event, and the officers as well. This amazing program could not have been made possible without the help of multiple people, especially the Executive Board. So much work has been put into the past two years, under the tutelage of a new president and advisor, to grow RHA into something that is recognized by the majority of students on campus. Swag Cab seems to be RHA’s crowning achievement thus far, and as the Vice President of the organization, I can honestly say, this is the best, most dynamic social program I have ever been a part of. Best Regards, Abby Peters Vice President Residence Hall Association

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