By Brooke McCloud

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This fall, UK students will have the potential to score some serious swag.

With the new Student Government initiative TallyCats, students will be eligible to win prizes ranging from season basketball tickets to a semester’s worth of free books in exchange for one thing: campus involvement.

“With TallyCats, we want to better the student quality of life and the overall student experience at UK,” said Ali Adkins, TallyCats co-coordinator.

Beginning Sept. 9, students will earn points for attending various athletic, campus and organization events. By swiping their WildCard ID on special scanners upon entering certain events on campus, students have the chance to get rewarded for their involvement, said Student Government President Ryan Smith.

“There are only 350 schools in the whole world that offer a program that rewards students for attendance, but TallyCats is the only (one) that does it on such a large scale,” Smith said.

The idea of such a program has been talked about for years, yet the plans began to take action during last year’s University Leadership Summit, where 100 of UK’s most involved students got together to figure out ways to motivate and improve student life, said Chrissy McAteer, TallyCats co-coordinator.

“I think that seniors are going to be a lot more willing to go if there are incentives, and we are poor college kids, and we could all use some extra help,” said Tara Perdue, a senior sociology major.

“Swipe it, sign in, score swag” are the easy-to-remember steps that SG is using to promote the new program, according to the TallyCats brochure.

“Everything has been made as easy as possible so that every student can get involved,” McAteer said. “The students already have everything they need, their Wildcard ID and Linkblue account.”

Students can access their points and information by logging into the TallyCats Web site with their Linkblue username. They can also check the calendar of events and watch the Top 20 Leaderboard on the TallyCats’ Web site, which will be fully running on­­­­­­ Sept. 9.

“When I was a freshman, I would have been more likely to go to events if I knew there was a chance to be rewarded for it,” said family science junior Justin Bowling.

“There is no catch, we want each student to get the most out of their UK experience,” Smith said.

TallyCats hopes to contribute to Provost Kumble Subbaswamy’s “War on Student Attrition,” a plan to heighten the student retention rate.

“One of the biggest complaints of the past was that UK students didn’t feel at home,” McAteer said. “We feel as though TallyCats will make the students feel more welcomed and involved.”

Different areas, which include Subbaswamy’s office, President Lee Todd’s office, UK Public Relations and the athletic department pitched in to purchase the eight hand-held scanners, costing $3,300 each, that will be used to swipe the IDs at event entrances, McAteer said.

A higher retention rate and more student involvement are both goals through the TallyCats program, yet SG also hopes to bond the UK community and the Lexington community, Adkins said.

Points for attendance will range from 1-to-2 points per event, which are selected by the TallyCats committee. About 50 events are on the TallyCats calendar and students will be able to suggest events through the Web site.

Monthly prizes will generally consist of fast-food coupons, football tickets and school supply packs.

The more points, the bigger the prize. The most engaged students will have the opportunity to win the grand prizes. The top ten most involved at the end of the year will win anything from a Nintendo Wii to a laptop computer.

Donations from local businesses for prizes were not hard to come by, McAteer said.

“Businesses were immediately interested in the program. It is joining the two communities together,” McAteer said.

“Student Government had to make some initial investments for TallyCats’ first year. We hope to be a self-sustained program by next year, which will rely on donations only,” Smith said.

Members of the committee are excited about the outcome and have high hopes to heighten the retention rate as well as the involvement, Smith said.

“While increasing the student retention rate without affecting student cost, the program hopes to bring a stronger sense of community and spirit to UK,” he said.

For more information on the program, visit www.tallycats.com.