After watching lines wrap around the Sun Dome and receiving complaints of scalping and impropriety, officials from USF Athletics and Student Government will hold an open meeting to discuss ways to improve an evolving student ticket policy.

The aim of the Town Hall meeting – held in the Athletics Complex’s Big East Room at 7:30 tonight – will be to give students a chance to air their concerns directly to the people responsible for shaping the ticket policy, said Senior Associate Athletic Director Bill McGillis.

The meeting will also allow officials to dispel rumors, vet new ideas and give students insight into the decisions behind the policy.

Members of SG proposed the meeting to McGillis after many students voiced concern over the distribution of tickets for Saturday’s football game against Central Florida.

“We are all excited about the success of the football team,” SG senate president Nathan Davison said. “The current system is set up for something of a much smaller scale,” he added.

Until tickets were made available for the Sept. 22 game against North Carolina, students were able to gain access to Raymond James Stadium on the day of the game with their student ID alone.

Since that time, a system has been implemented through which students are able to pick up their tickets before game day. Now, however, they are often forced to wait in long lines to get the wristband and ticket they need to gain access to the student sections.

It is the lines that have garnered the most criticism, as students complain about wasting a day, conflicts with classes and people cutting in front of them, said Davison.

McGillis has heard concerns, comments and praise for the current system from students via e-mail, at sporting events and during distribution itself, he said.

Suggestions have ranged from employing a lottery system to keeping a similar policy in place with wristbands, but upping the number of student sections from one to two, to reward students who wait the longest with the best seats, McGillis said.

The Town Hall meeting will offer those students with opinions or constructive criticism of the policy to voice them in a formal setting.

Athletics officials will then use the input to shape the policy for the remaining games, McGilllis said.

“The bottom line is we want the ticket distribution system to do what’s best for the students,” McGillis said.

What: Town Hall meeting

Where: Big East room, Athletics building

When: 7:30 p.m.

Format: Students can ask one question each

Joshua Neiderer can be reached at (813) 974-6299 or oracleeditor@gmail.com.