Student football tickets are changing again.
The Athletic Department, in conjunction with Student Government, has revised the student ticket system. The entrance and transfer procedures have been streamlined, and there are new regulations for the ticket upgrade process. The new system also includes restrictions limiting entrance to eligible students.
Students are no longer limited to the online ticket transfer system. Although the process is still available, ticket holders can now simply give other students their tickets. The name on a ticket is no longer required to match the name of the student using that ticket.
But a student identification card, called a Tiger Card, is still required to gain entrance to the games. The card will be swiped during students’ entrance in a fashion similar to the procedure used for other University sporting events, like basketball games.
After this swipe, students will have their tickets scanned as in the past.
The swipe serves an important function that involves another new change to the system: students must meet certain eligibility requirements to be allowed entrance to a game. An “active, valid” student is registered as a full-time student with a cumulative GPA of at least 2.0. Additionally, the student can have no unpaid fees and must be in good standing with the University.
SG Director of Athletics Dixon McMakin said these requirements aim to encourage students to value their opportunity to purchase the high-demand, discounted tickets.
“We wanted to find a way to where students realize that tickets are a privilege and not a right,” he said.
Students who purchased tickets and later fail to meet the eligibility requirements will not be able to enter the game.
“That’s the point we’re most interested in impressing on the students,” said Tim Messa, assistant director of ticket operations.
Students will also need to bring their most current ID card. Old, inactivated cards will not be valid in the stadium admission process.
The ticket upgrade process, which allows students to transfer their tickets to non-students, has also been altered.
There is now a limit of 500 student ticket upgrades per game. They will be granted on a first come, first serve basis. The deadline to upgrade a ticket is 5 p.m. the day before the game. Upgrades will also be unavailable once the limit of 500 is reached.
Messa said the beginning date for ticket upgrades is undetermined, but will probably fall in the week before the first home game.
The student priority point system, used to determine the distribution of post-season tickets, is also affected by these changes. Priority points will now be granted to the student whose ID card is swiped – the student actually attending the game – rather than to the student whose name is on the ticket.
The online ticket transfer process, developed to facilitate the student priority point system, faced student criticism after being introduced in the fall 2006 semester.
In spring 2007, Cassie Alsfeld’s campaign promised to reform the unpopular system. Now SG president, Alsfeld has not been able to enact all the intended changes.
Alsfeld said she “never liked” the idea of students having to print out their own tickets, but was unable to reach her goal of getting student tickets handled through ID cards. Alsfeld said the Tiger Card Office cited logistical difficulties and was unprepared to handle tickets on student ID cards.
Alsfeld said she is still working with the Athletics Department to change this, and student tickets on ID cards may be available as early as next year.
—Contact Daniel McBride at [email protected]