Campus Rec ends partnership with Plyo Points

Plyo Points make fitness fun, or at least, it did. As of Sept. 15, Campus Recreation has terminated its partnership with Plyo after just three years. 

The Plyo fitness app allows students to earn points by spending time exercising. Users were then able to use their points in exchange for offers and gift cards.  

Campus Recreation partnered with Dining Services, offering rewards on campus such as free meals, buy-one-get-one deals and more. Dining Services ended the partnership nearly a year ago. 

USU students were left confused and disappointed by the announcement. But in an email with The Utah Statesman, Tyrell Crane, assistant director of facility operations & risk management, says it was necessary. 

“The reality is that use of the platform has become all too problematic and unnecessarily combative. These factors have prompted our dropping of the platform,” he wrote. 

Students were able to register on the app through USU and earn bonus points for extra exercise such as 8,000 daily steps or maintaining an elevated heart rate for at least 30 minutes. They were also able to request local gyms or parks as workout areas and could earn points for spending time there. 

Campus Recreation pushed for the program’s implementation to encourage more physical activity and reward students for what they were already doing.  

A favorite reward for participants was free admittance into the ARC. Not only were students able to use the app, but those living in the area could earn points and use them as well. 

“Now that they are getting rid of it, I’m just going to delete the app,” USU student Joseph Myers wrote in a message to the Statesman. “If they don’t accept Plyo points, then there’s no other reason to have it.” 

USU’s student fees, paid with tuition, cover a membership to the ARC gym. If not a full-time student, admission costs range from $8 per entry to $30 a month for alumni. 

“I used it to get people into the ARC climbing wall for free,” Myers wrote. “There are other things you can use Plyo points for, but they include purchasing items. I liked using it at Campus Rec because it didn’t require me to make any purchases.” 

Crane said Campus Recreation has ceased its use of Plyo for three core reasons, the first being a lack of platform support. 

“Our professional staff have made several attempts to contact Plyo support on a matter of issues, including simply granting administration access to our new team members. We’ve received no replies to these queries, and no support in our needs on the platform,” Crane wrote. 

Crane also said other USU entities have stopped using Plyo, including Dining Services,  

“With no platform support, and no affiliate ties to campus, the platform has proven increasingly non-viable for our purposes,” he wrote. 

Crane said the third reason is due to misuse among participants.  

“We’ve encountered several instances where individuals have taken screenshots of guest pass redemptions for the ARC and other buildings and have been reusing and distributing them to others for illegitimate redemptions,” he said. “Attempts have led to some unnecessarily tense interactions between our student staff and user parties.” 

Instead of encouraging more physical activity through a reward system, Campus Recreation is working to put on student events, provide group fitness classes and continually improve its facilities.