Inside Iowa State: Iowa State University

August 16, 2002

Most faculty, staff will keep men's basketball seats

A new seating plan for men's basketball games will double the number of students in the lower levels of Hilton Coliseum.

The plan will mean reseating for some faculty and staff ticket holders, said ISU athletics director Bruce Van De Velde. However, the traditional faculty-staff seating -- four sections in the parquet -- remains, and most faculty will be seated there.

Some faculty and staff will be moved from lower-level seating behind both baskets to make room for the additional students. Some will join other faculty and staff in the four parquet sections. Some faculty and staff also will be moved to the first eight rows of the balcony at mid-court.

Van De Velde said the new seating plan was developed during a nine-month process that included consultations with representatives of Faculty Senate, P&S Council, the student body government, National Cyclone Club and others. Feedback also was solicited through focus group meetings and mail surveys of university organizations and season ticket holders.

"We were very happy with the process," Van De Velde said. "We felt that we built some consensus."

Under the plan, students will now occupy 1,400 seats in the lower levels behind both baskets. Another 2,600 student seats will be behind the baskets in the balcony.

"We want to do all we can to further the unique environment of basketball games at Hilton Coliseum, known as 'Hilton Magic,'" Van De Velde said. "The ISU student body is a huge component of that special atmosphere."

Under the old seating plan, students occupied some seat sections between the baselines in the lower and upper levels of the coliseum. Those seats now will be available to members of National Cyclone Club, an annual giving program for the athletic department.

The athletic department will receive an incremental increase in student fee support for all 18 ISU varsity sports. "The fee increase will help every one of our 18 sports at Iowa State," Van De Velde said.