As football season gears into full swing, football is materializing not only on the field but also in the inboxes of students at the University.

Students frequently use the Quickmail function on Moodle to send mass emails to classmates regarding the resale of football tickets.

However, the University prohibits this, and if reported, students misusing Moodle could face consequences, said Assistant Dean of Students Katie Barras.

“It’s important for students to remember that Moodle is a resource provided to students by the University for academic use only,” Barras said. “It’s problematic when you’re given a resource and use it in a way it wasn’t intended to be used.”

Rosanne Scholl, mass communication assistant professor, said she took matters into her own hands when the number of ticket sale emails through Moodle began exceeding emails regarding class material.

“I taught a large class in Cox Auditorium two years ago, and a lot of my students started complaining,” Scholl said. “I actually had to turn off the Quickmail ability.”

Scholl now posts warnings at the top of her class forums on Moodle that students may not use it for selling football tickets, she said.

“LSU has to decide, ‘Do we enforce these rules?’” Scholl said.

Management Professor Kerry Sauley said he has never heard of any instances when the University enforced the Moodle restrictions.

“I have received complaints from students about it,” Sauley said. “I don’t see it as that big of a problem.”

Some students do the opposite by sending mass emails asking classmates not to send emails regarding football tickets, Sauley said.

“It aggravates me, especially at a time when I’m really busy with school and get constant emails,” said biological sciences senior Morgan Mains.

Mains said her sorority, Delta Gamma, has a private Facebook group designated for its pledge class to exchange football tickets. She said the Greek Life page also has postings about tickets.

Although the University forbids the use of Moodle to sell football tickets, the increasingly popular ticket sale advertisements on Facebook are allowed if they abide by all standard resale restrictions.

“The resale, or attempted resale, of LSU student tickets through means other than those specifically provided by the LSU Ticket Office is expressly prohibited,” states the LSU Ticket Office policy.

According to Assistant Manager of Ticket Operations Hunter Geisman, the ticket office prohibits the resale of tickets for any amount higher than the seller paid for it.

“It is against LSU Ticket Office resale policy, University Policy, and State Law to sell a student ticket for above face value,” Geisman said.

If someone were to sell a ticket for more than face value and was then reported to the ticket office, all tickets would be removed from his or her account, Geisman said.

The privilege to attend any athletic event in a student capacity would also be revoked, Geisman said, and the students would then be submitted to the Office of Student Advocacy and Accountability.

“The policy is about ‘intent,’ so an attempted resale would qualify as violating the policy,” Geisman said.

Despite the policy, some students say selling tickets above face value is standard.

“I know the rules,” said business freshman Patrick Fruge. “But if you don’t need the tickets and sell them for $20, you make a great profit.”

The walls on LSU class group pages on Facebook are covered with posts from students regarding ticket sales, and several posts advertise tickets for higher than face value.

Kinesiology sophomore Delaney Shea posted to the Class of 2015 group page Monday, “Selling my Alabama ticket. $150 is the lowest I’ll sell.”

Similar posts appear frequently on every class page.

“It is not only a violation of the ticket office policy, but a violation of the Student Code of Conduct,” Barras, the associate director of Student Advocacy and Accountability and an administrator of the Class of 2016 Facebook group page, said.

The Class of 2016 Facebook group page is the only class page sponsored by the University.

“If a student tries to sell his or her football ticket for more than face value, they can be charged with 8. 2 B 15 of the Code,” Barras said. “This charge includes misusing a University issued document.”

If a student uses Moodle to sell overpriced tickets, Barras said more charges could be issued.

“If they use Moodle specifically to sell the ticket, a student could also be charged with 8. 2 A 3 E of the Code – ‘using University computing resources for unauthorized commercial purposes or personal gain,’” Barras said.

Barras said the University wants ensure that students appropriately use their tickets or pass them onto others.

“Tiger Stadium seats somewhere just over 94,000 people. 14,000 tickets are reserved for students,” Barras said. “It is very much a privilege.”

When students need to sell football tickets, Barras advises them to use the means set up by the ticket office – the LSU Ticket Marketplace located at LSUsports.net/marketplace.

“Use the Ticket Marketplace. There are safeguards put in place by the ticket office to make sure no one loses money, and everything is safe,” Barras said.

The LSU Student Ticket Marketplace currently displays no listings for football tickets being sold.

“Maybe that needs to be publicized better,” Sauley said. “That’s the message we have to get out.”