Changes receive mixed responses from seniors
By Amanda Blas Staff Writer blas13@up.edu
This year, UP will take a new approach to graduation tickets, opting for assigned seating with split seating and online ticket ordering.
This year's graduating class will be given a maximum number of five tickets per student, with the tickets being split up into two sections.
"Two seats are going to be in the lower bowl, which is the soft padded seats closer to the stage, and the remaining three will be in the upper bowl, which are the bleachers at either end or the upper seats above the padded seats," Director of University Events Bill Reed said.
Previously, there was not assigned seating at graduation. The split was done to ensure that every graduating senior had at least two tickets close to the stage.
"The bottom line is we can't promise everybody all good seats so we looked at the numbers and we said two is the best we can do," Reed said.
There will also be online ticket ordering. Starting Monday, April 2 at 7 a.m., graduating seniors will be able to log on to the PilotsUP portal to reserve their tickets, a new system centered on student convenience.
"We decided to go for the online portal because it's much quicker and (students) can log straight on to order their tickets," Associate Director of University Events Billy McWood said. "It literally takes a minute, or probably less, to order."
The online ordering replaced University Events' previous way of ordering and distributing tickets.
"If we did not choose to go online, we would be doing everything within the office," McWood said. "Originally, people would come to the office and wait in line. But then we realized that it was probably going to be raining and people would have to take time off their schedules. We just couldn't take students away from classes and other things like that."
According to Reed, the online ordering system is especially convenient for students who are currently not on campus, such as fall semester graduates or those who are studying abroad.
"Before we asked students to be here in person to show us their student I.D.," Reed said. "But this way, the UP portal will verify their I.D. and they can be anywhere in the world and pick up their tickets."
According to McWood, students have expressed concerns about the PilotsUP portal being able to properly function with the excessive number of logins to order tickets.
"The portal is the same place you check your email and it gets about 8,000 hits a day," McWood said. "An additional 800 hits at one point at 7 o'clock is nothing out of the normal. That added influx of people is not going to affect the network in any way."
The online ticket distribution will also allow the University Events office to keep track of the order in which tickets were reserved, which plays a role in this year's assigned seating as seating will be arranged based on a first come, first serve basis.
According to Reed, they decided to do assigned seating to alleviate the problem of waiting and long lines that occurred before past commencement ceremonies, allowing graduating seniors and their guests to enjoy other activities the University has to offer as part of the celebration.
"Previous years, graduation would start at 12:30 and people would be in line as early as 9:30 to get good seats. The line would go from the front door of the Chiles Center all the way back over to the Pilot House," Reed said. "Parents are extremely happy to be here for graduation and this gives them the chance to spend the day with you instead of having to stand in line."
Some graduating seniors are not happy with the split in their commencement tickets.
"I think my family would rather sit all together," senior Halina Lukoskie said. "You don't go to an event and not sit with the people you go with. You want to share the experience with them."
Senior James McCaffrey agrees.
"They could've still done it first come, first serve and fill (the Chiles Center) front to back instead of splitting the tickets up," McCaffrey said. "Why they did it doesn't make sense to me."
Senior Tony Tran understands why seniors may not agree with the splitting of tickets. However, he also understands that the arrangement may be in the best interest of the entire graduating class.
"It's weird because your guests are sitting separately, but it also makes sense that you have at least one guaranteed set of tickets that are close up to the graduates. I see what they're going for," Tran said.
In addition to concerns about the splitting the tickets, University Events have also received complaints about the number of tickets. According to Reed, the number of tickets is determined by the size of the graduating class and ensures fairness so that each graduate is able to bring the same number of guests.
"We get student and parent concerns every year about the number of tickers. There are never going to be enough tickets," Reed said. "Five is a difficult number and you have to make choices, but those are the five people that are important to you in this point of your life."
According to Reed, they will continue this system for graduation commencement tickets and seating for the class of 2013.
"We'll learn from this year and we'll tune it and tweak it and do it again next year," Reed said.
