Start Building Your Points!
By Addison Mason
Roger Williams is introducing a new point system to amplify student engagement. Added to the original Roger Link tabs, there is a new one labeled “Points.” Each event will have its own set point value that students can earn upon check-in. The points will lead to future rewards and prizes for those attending events on campus.
The initiative came from Campus Labs, the company that manages Hawk Link. In a raffle, Roger Williams was chosen as 1 of 10 schools participating in the first wave of the trial.
It is a device that will advertise an organization’s event by providing point values to students that can lead to future prizes. Campus Labs envisioned this as a way for students to attend events they are interested in and create their own end goal rather than the school choosing it for them.
In an interview with Adrianne Harris, she talked about how each event’s point value will be decided. Deciding how many points each event will be worth depends on the size of the events. Bigger and more traditional events the school really wants students to attend will be worth more points. These events include Family Weekend, Homecoming, CEN’s Wicked Weekend, Casino Night, etc. These are events the school wants to promote the most so it will lead to higher rewards for students in attendance.
Along with these individual events, Harris mentioned the possibility of points for theme weeks. She gives an example by saying, “There are five events that CEN is going to create for Wicked Week. I can set it up so that each event can have its own point value, or you need to attend all five events to amass a large point value.”
Beyond rewarding attendance, the points will also be able to provide data on what events and subjects students are interested in allowing students to create their own path. Showing what events students are interested in will help clubs and organizations plan events that appeal to students and faculty will be able to guide them in the correct direction based on their interests.
The new feature also introduces a school-wide leaderboard. Students will be able to see where they are in competition with other students which will add a competition aspect that Harris hopes will add a fun aspect to the new point system. During the interview she stated, “I have a feeling that there will probably be some friendly competition amongst some students who are like, ‘Oh no I gotta maintain my lead.’” Harris also mentioned the possibility of declaring winners at the end of every month. These winners could earn smaller prizes for being dedicated that month. She also has been thinking about the idea of doing semesterly winners who would end up getting a bigger prize.
While potential prizes have not been finalized, the ideas being tossed around include hawk dollars, spring concert tickets, and Amazon shopping sprees. The prizes have not been finalized because she wants to make sure that they are things students would be excited about.
The new update will also help clubs and organizations across campus by bringing more students to their events. ICC representative Mia shares, “We do hope that the points will bring more attention to ICC events!”
It seems like students are excited about the opportunity to win prizes. Ian Dodenfeld, a freshman architecture student, says, “I would be happy with the opportunity to win Hawk Dollars as a prize, so I would be more willing to go to campus events.”
Roger Link Points has the potential to provide many opportunities for organizations, faculty, and students to make the Roger Williams campus more interactive for all students while also adding events to peak students’ interests.
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