Incoming freshmen may not be aware of a key perk for student Duck fans: access to tickets.
Student tickets are provided using incidental fees. Only incidental fee-paying students qualify for the “free” tickets, and they can be obtained in several ways.
“The incidental fee is one of seven mandatory fees that students pay each term,” said Dave Doerksen, accounts receivable supervisor for University Business Affairs. “A full-time fall term student will pay a $172.75 incidental fee this year.”
Incidental fees are transferred to ASUO accounts when they are assessed, Doerksen said. Fourteen percent of the 2002-03 ASUO budget went to student tickets, according to an ASUO brochure.
Student Senator Kevin Day, a member of the Athletic Department Finance Committee, explained that the ADFC negotiates with the Athletic Department to figure out how many tickets should be purchased for football and men’s basketball home games, and how much ASUO should pay for them.
The ASUO is currently paying about 44 percent of the fair-market value for each ticket, Day said.
Students who are married or have a family can also apply for additional tickets using the spouse/spousal-equivalent or child-certification form. To complete the form, the student must present, in person at the ASUO office, his or her current University photo ID and other specific means of verification.
Once a student has a University photo ID and is enrolled, the process for obtaining tickets is easy.
Jennifer Ludwig, who works at the University Ticket Office, said game tickets become available about two weeks before each game, and a student who presents his or her current University student ID can get one ticket.
She added that there were 2,550 student tickets for the Nevada and Michigan games, and 6,100 student tickets for the remaining home games.
“There are two distribution sites,” Ludwig said. “The ticket office inside the EMU and the ticket office next to the Len Casanova Athletic Center.”