Using a rewards program to track student involvement & inform programming

Student Government & Student Affairs#naspatech9

Overview of People Involved History of TallyCats◦How it started◦How it works now

Initial Results Future Goals Conclusion & Lessons Learned General Discussion/Comments

The Path

Katelyn Banks◦ TallyCats Coordinator (SGA)

Todd Cox◦Student Government Advisor

Jack King◦Student Affairs IT professional

Chip Carter (not present)◦CSGold / CBORD representative

The People

Tally Cats is a Student Government incentive program designed to reward students who get involved on campus.

We focus on events that promote:◦Diversity on campus◦Campus traditions (school spirit)◦Educational topics◦Student Government events◦Connection with the surrounding Lexington

community

Program Overview

How it Started

Concept has been talked about for years

2007 Leadership Summit◦ Student group discussed the idea◦ No follow-up or funding available

2008 Leadership Summit◦ Student group discussed the idea◦ Little follow-up and no funding support

2008 Emerging Leadership Institute (Fall semester)◦ Student small group decided this was their leadership project◦ Approached Student Government about implementation

History of TallyCats

Student Government developed a proposal (Spring 2009) and approached the following campus groups:◦President’s Office◦Provost◦Athletics◦Public Relations◦Student Activities Board

A collaboration between the groups listed above was born. Each committed financial backing to this initiative ($3,500 each)

History of TallyCats

Student Government began to implement the program by focusing on technology

◦Contact: Chip Carter◦Database: CSGold◦Scanners: CBORD MC50 (pocket PCs with wifi)◦Programming: Custom; created on site by a

CBORD Rep

Began to realize the importance of other aspects (marketing, incentives, staffing, etc.)

History of TallyCats

Technology MarketingIncentives

Staffing

Multi-faceted Approach

◦Promotions T-Shirts Brochures Cups

◦ Incentives Donated by UK

departments event tickets, iPod nanos,

free semester of books Some were purchased

TVs, digital cameras, flip cameras and one (1) laptop

◦Staffing TallyCats Co-Coordinators SGA executive leaders Senators

◦Website General information Incentives listing Calendar (40 total)

Student Activities Board Athletics Student Government

Events

Roll Out Process (Fall 2009)

How it Works Now

www.tallycats.com1) Show up!2) Swipe ID!3) Score Swag!

Easy as 1 – 2 – 3

Students can check out the TallyCats website or the UK Campus Calendar for the events

Additional avenues of marketing include…◦Twitter campaigns◦Brochures ◦TallyCats team shirts◦Campus newspaper ads & articles◦Fliers & posters

Show Up!

Who can submit events◦Registered Student

Organizations◦Colleges◦Departments◦Academic Groups

Types of Events◦Awareness and

Diversity events◦Career Planning

sessions◦Sporting events◦Guest Lecturers◦Art Gallery

Openings◦Concerts◦Philanthropy Events

TallyCats Event Profile

Student Organizations/Departments submit their event via www.tallycats.com

TallyCats Coordinator accepts or denies the submission. ◦If approved, the Coordinator adds the event to the Campus Calendar and tags it as a TallyCat event

◦RSS feed pulls in the TallyCat events to www.tallycats.com & www.uksga.org

Submission Process

TallyCat team member responsibilities:◦Pick up the scanner◦Program the scanner with the appropriate

code/point value◦Arrive at the event 20 minutes beforehand◦Swipe IDs until 15 minutes into the program◦Return the scanner the following business day

Participant responsibilities:◦Provide their student ID to be swiped

Swipe ID!

(Wireless) Mag strip card readers CS Gold Server Software IIS 7 Web Server (Win 2K8 SP2) MySQL Server PHP5 Custom CMS

Technology Back-End

Student ID Card (track 2 data containing Student ID number)

Swipes into wireless reader◦Wireless reader validates student status as current (either

online or offline)

Reader then stores/transmits data indicating student checked into this particular reader◦We have certain codes marked in the system as certain

values

Server then increments total point value by indicated check-ins for that day

Data Path

Partnerships between TallyCats and Student Organizations

Student Activities Board Concert & Event Tickets Parking Passes Free Semester of Books Athletic Tickets Autographed Footballs and Basketballs

Other prizes purchased by Student Government Apple products (iPods, iPads) Flat Screen TVs UK Apparel (hats, jerseys, polos, sweatshirts, etc.) Laptops Digital Cameras & Flip Cams

Score Swag!

TallyCats awards prizes at the end of each month, semester, and academic year

Students who earn the most overall points at the end of each month are put into a random drawing for 10-15 prizes a month

Semester drawings pertain to the points accumulated during that previous semester

The yearly grand prize is awarded to the most active student of the year

Incentive Structure

TallyCats not only benefits our student users, but is also valuable to Student Organizations & Campus Groups ◦The TallyCats calendar provides a free avenue to

advertise events◦Students engaged with the TallyCats program are

more likely to attend these events (i.e. increased attendance)

◦Ability to run statistical analysis to determine if the program is succeeding in increasing retention

◦Ability to create attendance lists

General Benefits

Initial Results

95% of participants were undergraduates◦46% - Freshmen◦20% - Sophomores◦16% - Juniors◦13% - Seniors

First Year Results

Table 2: Retention Fall 2009 Enrollment

Enrolled in Spring 2010

Enrolled in Fall 2010

(Preliminary) HS GPAACT

Comp

First Fall UK

GPA

First Year UK

GPA

N % % Mean Mean Mean MeanCohort TallyCats

2846 93.2 86.5 3.55 24.53 2.93 2.922008 No

Yes429 97.7 93.0 3.69 25.46 3.10 3.10

2009 No2978 93.4 81.3 3.47 24.44 2.72

Yes1133 97.4 91.1 3.65 25.30 3.09

Retention

• 4% increase Fall-Spring• 7-10% increase Fall to Fall

Participant Statistics 90% were Freshmen participants 70% of participants had attended at least 3 TallyCats events

Survey Results Highlights 91% participated during K Week (opening week activities) 76% plan to participate in the future 84% are satisfied with the TallyCats program 75% valued TallyCats as a way to get involved on campus and for being

rewarded for that involvement

Recommendations or Improvements (based on Survey Results) Prizes that students would like to see offered:

◦ Tickets to basketball games◦ Gift cards ◦ T-shirts◦ Electronics (primarily Apple products)◦ Plus account money

Make TallyCats workers at events more visible and easy to locate

Fall 2010 Survey Analysis

Future Goals

Integrate local community events into our TallyCats program (town/gown relationship)

Revamp the incentive structure to reward more students for their participation

Staff 150-180 TallyCat events throughout the academic year (~1/day)

Incentivize for “bringing a friend” with door prizes

Future Expansion

Event Planners◦Event profile report (demographics of who attended)◦Ability to download an attendance list from the

server

Student Affairs Profession◦Tracking of student involvement data (retention)◦Utilize trending data to inform programming

decisions◦Better able to assess programs via electronic surveys

to participants (ex. Cats Cruiser)

Future Expansion

“Middle-man” reporting server to clean up reporting

Technology upgrade to replace our current scanners.◦QR Codes◦Location-based check-ins

Tie into campus Student Data Warehouse for deeper reporting◦Modify programming choices◦Create metrics for event profiles

Future Expansion (Tech)

Conclusions

Incentive level doesn’t matter to most students; they just want to get something (can even be a t-shirt)

Staffing TallyCats with busy people doesn’t work. We implemented a team approach in spring 2010 and have used it since (20-25 students). Freshmen are the best because they are not over committed

Technology can be our friend or enemy. Having a good calendar and website are paramount to having a successful program.

Lessons Learned

Picking a color theme for branding is very helpful (see highlighter yellow shirts for team members)

 

A hands on approach to training is much more effective than large group trainings. It requires more time on front end, but results in less issues later in the year

Monthly meetings keep the team up-to-date on changes and helps with scheduling

 

Systemize the internal processes like scheduling & team reminders as much as possible. Utilize technology like Google Docs to share the information easily.

Lessons Learned

Student Affairs Student Government UK IT Cbord Apax Software

Partnerships

General Discussion