After two and a half years, the CougarCard Center has received $230,000 for its relationship with U.S. Bank. Next June, the total will increase by another $90,000.
This lucrative relationship, however, took time. University officials were approached before about adding banking features to the CougarCard, but they had strict requirements for potential partners, said Craig Howard, director of administrative services information systems.
THE DEAL
Officials wanted a card that could be available on demand. They wanted a card that was debit, not credit, and a program that was opt-in, not opt-out. Howard said officials also wanted a relationship with a bank that had a “brick-and-mortar presence” for students.
“For years, there were financial incentives for the card center to form a banking relationship, but service to students outweighed financial (considerations),” he said.
In spring 2006, U.S. Bank told WSU it could meet the requirements in nine months, Howard said. WSU sent out a request during the fall seeking a banking relationship for the CougarCard and sent it to all nearby banks and credit unions. U.S. Bank and Wells Fargo responded.
University officials chose U.S. Bank in January 2007, Howard said.
Howard warned the bank that, “WSU isn’t easy, and the negotiations are going to be rigorous.” It took six months to negotiate the contract.
THE CONTRACT
The more students who use the CougarCard Maxx, the more money the university receives: up to $330,000 a year if the card reaches 70 percent use, according to the contract obtained through a public records request.
U.S. Bank has 51 other partnerships with universities. Contract language for each university is similar, but the amount each university receives varies, said Angela Ralston, U.S. Bank campus banking operations manager.
“We go into these partnerships for mutual benefit,” she said. “The bank is looking to gain new customers. This is a way for us to gain new customers, treat them right and retain them.”
In the end, U.S. Bank agreed to a $155,000 signing bonus, with yearly royalty payments based upon percent use. This was in addition to $30,000 a year in “soft dollars” – money used for marketing the card. The royalty payments were $37,500 in 2008 and 2009, but they will increase to $90,000 next year because percent use passed 20 percent in August. This moved WSU into a higher paying bracket.
The “soft dollars” are split between paying for extra U.S. Bank staff during Alive! and for marketing, Howard said. The marketing money is used for advertising and also for sponsoring campus events, such as the All Campus Picnic and ASWSU’s Cougar Quarterly.
“Our next goal for fiscal year 2011 is reaching 30 percent (penetration),” Howard said.
Thirty percent use would provide the CougarCard Center with a $130,000 royalty payment.
All of the money, except the soft dollars, goes to the CougarCard Center.
FOLLOWING THE DOLLARS
Howard said the CougarCard Center is self-sustaining and operates day to day off charges to customers.
Before the relationship with U.S. Bank, every four to five years, the center needed a $100,000 to $125,000 state supplement to pay for maintenance and hardware and software upgrades.
Now with U.S. Bank’s payments, the state money can be directed to other areas of the university, Howard said. The signing bonus helped pay off the center’s debt. Next year, the center needs to replace and upgrade the card printing system, in addition to other system upgrades.
Howard said the center is going to “hoard” as much as it can because the contract lasts eight years, 10 at most.
And after that, it’s impossible to know what will happen.
THE STUDENTS
Freshman animal science major Shauna Harth said the convenience of the CougarCard Maxx was too much to pass up. She got the card during Alive!.
“I didn’t have a debit card, and it was the simplest way for my family,” she said. “I enjoy it. It’s simple, and it’s all around campus.”
Almost one in four incoming students made the same choice. Howard said 23 percent of new students during the Alive! chose to get the Maxx card, as did 14 percent of transfer students.
Katherine Termath, a sophomore pre-pharmacy major, chose the card during Alive! because she wanted to have a bank account in Pullman. Termath said she was also pulled in by the offer of a free blanket for joining.
“It’s just that it’s pretty convenient,” she said. “I always have my CougarCard with me.”
Since joining Twitter in February, Football Head Coach Paul Wulff has amassed more than 1,000 followers. Wulff’s tweets are one of the most popular of the more than 50 WSU affiliated Twitter accounts.
“To a certain extent (Twitter is) still experimental,” said Barbara Petura, associate vice president for University Relations. “But it’s still a way to get publicity out.”
Petura said Cougar Athletics has probably been the most successful WSU Twitter user so far, and for other WSU users, “it’s still early in the revolution.”
Petura runs the WSUPullman Twitter account. She began it soon after the university moved to paperless internal communication last year. She said the decision to use only electronic media for internal communication was made to save money and help the university become more sustainable.
The move has decreased costs, Petura said, but Twitter’s role in the decrease is currently unknown.
“It Twitter saving money or making money? We don’t know yet,” Petura said. “Is Twitter building us new connections? Yes.”
For the faculty and staff at the Edward R. Murrow College of Communication, joining Twitter was an attempt to better reach out to students and alumni, said Brett Atwood, a clinical assistant professor in the college.
“It’s popular because the followers mostly consist of Murrow alumni or students who want to stay connected to the
Atwood said Twitter is also popular and successful because it works by “opting in,” and people are choosing to receive information, rather than having it forced upon them.
However, keeping the account also requires constant upkeep. In addition writing tweets, Atwood monitors all the activity on the Murrow College Twitter page in an attempt to block spam and keep the page appropriate. He said he pulls out one or two tweets a week.
A negative of Twitter is that users are unable to see the links they click on, Atwood said. In the past, some of the links posted on the
“Twitter is a young format,” Atwood said. “It needs to look at issues such as spammers, piggybacking (on popular terms), and URL shorteners.”
Despite its relatively new status, Petura said Twitter has already been adopted by many major universities.
“Twitter lets us connect with people easily all over the world, depending on who you can get to follow you,” she said.
The WSU Twitter accounts are also being used for more than event or speaker announcements. Petura said the WSU Spokane Twitter account has a focus on the health sciences. When Barbara Chamberlain, WSU Spokane public affairs director, attends important meetings, she’ll “tweet the high points of what key people have said,” Petura said.
“We just really added Twitter as another tool,” Petura said. “Some units use it more than others.”
President Elson S. Floyd has even considered using Twitter, though for now he has decided to focus on his blog, said Brandon Scheller, communication coordinator for University Relations and the President’s Office.
“I’m not sure he sees it yet as a method that would be beneficial to communicating with students,” Scheller said. “But I wouldn’t be surprised if he chooses to use it in the future.”
Atwood said a lot of social networking sites go through hype cycles, and that’s likely what Twitter is experiencing right now.
“The idea of Twitter is here to stay,” he said. “Whether Twitter remains the dominant platform has yet to be seen.”
Sources:
Barbara Petura - 509-335-1980
Brandon Scheller - 509-335-6292
Brett Atwood - 509-335-0113
