Come next fall, free pizza may not be the only incentive for students to attend a variety of MU events. Currently in the works at the Missouri Students Association is Creating Active Tigers, an incentive program rewarding students who attend set numbers of events.
CATs will be taking attendance using the student ID swipe method as CATs Crew members will be stationed with laptops and other devices that allow for students to swipe in and receive credit for coming to an event. After each month, the number of events attended will be compiled until a winner is named at the end of the school year, MSA Chief of Staff Mason Schara said.
If multiple students tied for the most points, MSA will hold a drawing for certain prize levels.
This summer Schara and other MSA members are formulating a rewards system that will consist of different tiers. At the bottom tier, students will have the opportunity to earn free food while each successive tier will include clothes and other rewards.
Criticism of the program came [in a letter to the editor written by former MSA Clerk Matt Kalish published May 3 in The Maneater](https://www.themaneater.com/stories/2013/5/3/new-cats-program-wrong-solution/). He called the program “a poor attempt by the MSA cabinet to ‘change Mizzou’s culture,’” and likened it to putting lipstick on a pig.
Despite the letter, Schara said he has not heard any other outside criticism and has support from organizations such as the Legion of Black Collegians and the LGBTQ Resource Center.
“We’ve met with different large organizations on campus whose events we’re covering, and they’re all very interested in it,” Schara said.
MSA Operations Committee Chair Ben Bolin said he is a supporter of the program and thinks the program will provide the edge needed to get students who are on the fence of whether to attend an event to come.
“Even if it gets one more person to an event, then it’s worth it,” Bolin said.
The program has made progress over the semester. Schara is working on gaining sponsorships from electronics companies and Joe Machens Dealership for the higher tier rewards, he said. Forty-five students already signed up to become part of “CATs Crew” volunteers, and tables for CATs will be at Summer Welcome. Getting involved with CATs will be a good way for incoming freshmen to hit the ground running, Schara said.
The program originated in February at the Southeastern Conference Exchange, an event in which students from the governing bodies of SEC schools come together and share ideas. Schara said after he and other MSA executives heard about other universities with similar reward programs, they decided to adapt the program for MU.
Schara said that as attendance increases, so will student involvement on campus.
Providing incentives for students who go to events around campus is not a new idea at MU, but it currently often applies to athletic events that receive lower attendance, such as gymnastics and wrestling, Schara said. MSA executives said they hope CATs will expand this into an array of different events that are not sport-related.
“We wanted to continue to support sporting events in general, especially the lower attended events, but we looked at it as if we’re trying to support ONE Mizzou and one unified campus,” Schara said. “We can’t support one thing and not support a majority of events on campus.”
