Jan. 14 2026 | Abbi Duhart | News Editor
New this academic year, Western has implemented a reward system called “Paw Points,” in which students can go to events around campus to earn spending points. Events that are listed as ones that participate will give out points to students who check in, which can then be traded in for various merchandise. On some occasions, students can earn Paw Points by filling out surveys sent to student emails if they specify that this incentive is provided on completion — one case being the recent email Jan. 8 from ASWOU — so students who are looking for more points should be sure to check their emails consistently.
To check which upcoming events are offering Paw Points for attending, students can log in to their Western Portal, navigate to the Involve icon in the top toolbar, click events and go to tags to filter for Paw Points. Students can also filter for events that offer three Paw Points, five or both. Then, all students have to do is attend the event listed, check in and receive their Paw Points.
Events coming up that offer Paw Points include a Law Careers Connect at the Student Success Center Jan. 14, a Phi Alpha Theta scavenger hunt at Hamersly Library Jan. 15, yoga at the Health and Wellness Center Jan. 15 and 20, MLK Day of Service at the Monmouth Senior Community Center Jan. 19, a ping pong tournament at the HWC Jan. 20 and a “Twilight” movie screening for Stalking Awareness Month at Abby’s House Jan. 27.
To view their current Paw Point balance, students can navigate to Involve, go to account and click login, and then scroll down to see their balance.
To redeem Paw Points, students can go to the Involve homepage and scroll down to the Paw Point store, where photos of Western merchandise that are available to redeem are listed. Below each picture is an amount listed for how many Paw Points each option costs. Once they find an item they’re interested in getting, students can submit an order form that an Involve admin will then verify, checking that the student has the required amount of Paw Points and that the item is still in stock. Once they approve the form, students can pick up their item at the information desk in the Werner University Center.
Items that are available right now to redeem for Paw Points include various pawprint pins, a red lanyard with pawprints as well as a Pride lanyard, hats in red, gray or black with the Western logo, a Wolfie squishmallow and plushie, a fleece blanket, a glass with the Western logo and a white water bottle that says Western Oregon University or a gray bottle with floral prints that has the Western logo. Items are limited to one per type per student.
Students can contact involveadmin@wou.edu for more information.
Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu
