The Cougar Success Initiative began this fall in an effort to engage students by offering incentives that can take off $1,000 in tuition.
Chemistry professor Simon Bott started this program by making UH’s own trading cards for students to collect to earn various prizes.
If a student collects all 55 cards, they will receieve a $1,000 scholarship.
Forty different cards will give students an entry into a weekly drawing for prizes.
Students who collect 25 will receive a free T-shirt. If they collect 15, they will receive a Cougar trading card poster.
Students can turn these cards in at any time during the semester to Bott’s office in Fleming Building, Room 138.
Bott said the inspiration for the Cougar trading card program came from the extra credit he offers his students.
‘I’ve been giving extra credit for this stuff in my classes for years,’ Bott said. ‘But I needed a way to get other professors to provide incentives. At a meeting in May, Bruce Twenhafel of Campus Activities mentioned that he’d thought for years that we should have cards of our athletes, and the two ideas merged in my mind.’
Bott said faculty and student reaction to the trading card program has been positive, even though the cards have not been released.
The Cougar trading cards are similar to sports trading cards. They will feature pictures of important individuals associated with the University, including student leaders and administration.
Some of these individuals include UH President Renu Khator, Provost John Antel and head football coach Kevin Sumlin.
The cards will also include famous alumni, such as Houston Rockets announcer Bill Worrell and former Rockets forward and Hall of Famer Clyde Drexler, who was a member of UH’s legendary Phi Slama Jama team from 1980-83.
Students can obtain these cards at various UH events throughout the semester, including workshops, concerts and operas at the Moores School of Music, select sporting events and plays at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center.
The trading cards can also be acquired at special events, such as the UC Welcome Back from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Wednesday at the University Center or the Kevin Sumlin show from 7 to 8 p.m. the same day at Chili’s Too.
For more information, students can visit http://www.uh.edu/tradingcards.
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