Tents4Tickets

Building Campus Relationships through Collaboration and Innovation

Summerly BrownBrittany Clark

Dr. April Heiselt

Mississippi State University

2012 SACSA Conference

Memphis, TN

Introductions Summerly Brown

Graduate Student at Mississippi State University

Brittany ClarkGraduate Student at Mississippi State

University

Dr. April HeiseltAssociate Professor and Student Affairs

Program Coordinator

Tell Us a Bit About Yourself…Name

Where you from?

What do you do?

What are you hoping to learn about from our presentation today?

Where is Mississippi State University?

Mississippi State University Enrollment: 20,000+ studentsLocation: Starkville, MSPopulation: 51% Male 49% Female as of Fall

2011MSU retention rate is 83.1% as of Fall 2011Southeastern Conference (SEC) MemberDavis Wade Stadium: Average 11,000 student

tickets (capacity approximately 57,000)

It all started with Football…Foundations of Tradition, History and

Values

On November 6, 1869 two college football teams met for the first recorded game in US history (Rudolph, 1990).

Student Affairs divisions recognize athletics as an activity that can provide students with opportunities for campus engagement and social development.

In 2009, the Southeastern Conference recorded its 27th straight

year as the nation's leader in the largest total and average football attendance categories (NCAA Accumulated Attendance Report, 2009).

Tents4Tickets: OriginsIn 2010-2011, then MSU Student Association

President, Rhett Hobart, came up with the idea of Tents4Tickets.

Athletics had been having issues with traffic and students missing class to pick up football tickets.

The Student Association partnered with MSU Athletics to create a weekend event which would essentially serve as a pre-season tailgate.

Tents4Tickets – Event TimelineOvernight tailgating event

Began at 5:00 p.m., Friday, August 26, 2011 with students required to check in multiple times throughout the night to keep his/her place in line.

The Student Association planned for 500 students to attend, over 5,000 students showed up.

Student tickets went on sale at 8:00 a.m. Saturday, August 27th, 2011.

Two lines were formed: Wristband line (for those who tailgated) Non-wristband line (for those who did not tailgate)

MSU Collaboration “I credit the Student Association and the

study body for kinda getting that going. I’ve been on college campuses where the student body wasn’t as engaged. Most college campuses you’re on aren’t nearly as engaged as ours is, and it just makes a huge difference, not only the spirit, but the attitudes and the ability for the Athletic Department to be successful.”

–Scott Stricklin, Athletic Director

How does collaboration with Athletics and Student Affairs

work on your campus?

Tents4Tickets Collaboration“It’s a good balance. We have worked well

with our student body and our Student Association in particular…but I think we recognize, Scott [Stricklin] and our Athletic Department staff, recognize that the student body is vital to what we do and whether it’s a concert after the spring game or Bulldog Bash…it’s important for us to have a good relationship with the students.”

–Joe Galbraith, Assistant Athletic Director for Media Relations

Tents4Tickets: Stakeholders Involved Students Student Association Athletic Department Dean of Students Office Campus Police Accounts Receivable staff Event Operations Group

Campus Activities Board Music Makers Office of Fraternity and

Sorority Life Dining Services Office of Student Affairs Academic Affairs

Do you think collaboration is necessary between various Student Affairs

divisions? Between Student Affairs and Athletic

Affairs? Between Student Affairs and Academic

Affairs?

Collaborative Essentials

Communication

Relationships

Collaboration on MSU CampusEssential to the core values

of MSUHave A Purpose

Make A Plan

Involve The Key Players

Communication and Resources

Execute Plan and Fulfill Purpose

Evaluate, Assess and Make Changes

Collaborative DifferencesAthletics and the Student Association believe

that the event was moved to Saturday to assist with traffic problems and to make sure that students attend class.

Dean of Students Office and the Center for Student Activities did not believe that Academic Affairs played a role in this decision.

What does this say?

How do you deal with collaborative differences on your campus?

Tents4Tickets: BENEFITS8,586 student tickets sold in 6 hours—a new

record!Sold at an average of 24 tickets per minuteNo students missed classAble to tailgate with first two games being

away$4,000 donated to the United Way through a

sell-out of True Maroon t-shirtsAttendance record set at MSU Volleyball

game with over 3,000 in attendancehttp://www.sa.msstate.edu/press/weekly/display.php?id=1176

Tents4Tickets: CHALLENGESExtended wait times in lineMiscommunication about what students were

required to do to get their ticketsTicket lines were much longer than in

previous yearsStudents felt pressured to “camp-out” due to

uncertainty surrounding ticket allotment

http://www.sa.msstate.edu/press/weekly/display.php?id=1176

Lessons Learned from the DataInclude the right players in the conversationCommunication is keyKnow who you can rely on Determine who pays for everything – UP

FRONT!Know your campus

AtmosphereStudent BodyDepartments – Academics

and otherwise

LimitationsInterviews were conducted well after the

event occurredDifficult for participants to remember the

details of the event planning

Additional follow-up interviews could be held with participants

DiscussionWhat opportunities do you currently have on

your campus where you could collaborate with other campus entities?Consider potential benefits and challenges.

Jot down some ideas and we’ll share as a group.

Questions

Contact InformationSummerly Brown

ssb154@msstate.edu

Brittany Clarkbgc51@msstate.edu

Dr. April HeiseltDepartment of Counseling and Educational Psychology

Mississippi State Universityaheiselt@colled.msstate.edu

(662) 325-7919

References http://www.sa.msstate.edu/press/weekly/display.php?id=1176 http://www.alumni.msstate.edu/s/811/index.aspx?sid=811&gid=1&pgid=753 http://www.planetware.com/i/map/US/mississippi-map.jpg http://www.youvisit.com/images/branding/msstate/multicampusselection.jpg http://cdn204.psbin.com/img/mw=400/cr=n/86rfbucnel8tw6bo.jpg http://www.sa.msstate.edu/img/image.php?content=news&image=1172 http://blogs.denverpost.com/sports/2010/07/27/pac-10-unveils-new-logo/11403/ http://content.fathead.com/product_images/61-61237.jpg http://

www.alumni.msstate.edu/s/811/images/editor/apsec_2012/sponsor_logos/msu_student_association.jpg

http://sapeylissy.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/mstate-flags.jpg NCAA Accumulated Attendance Report. (2009, December 20). From

http://web1.ncaa.org/mfb/2009/Internet/attendance/FBS_ATTENDANCE.pdf Rudolph, F. (1990). The American college and university. Athens, GA: The University

of Georgia Press.