Athletic Dept Changes to Priority Points (HUGE!)
Beginning in 2013, the Priority Points system will be modified to give more points to Michigan alums and athletes. Specifically, the priority points for one alumnus(a) will increase from 5 points to 20 points and the priority points for one athlete will increase from 10 points to 40 points. Alumni couples and athlete couples may combine their points to a max of 40 points and 80 points for each such category, respectively. [Chart below highlights these changes (note: an athlete is also assumed to be an alum for purposes of the calculations below). The plus numbers are netted as compared to current point values for their respective categories.]
This will cause significant priority point inflation for alums and athletes (and conversely, depreciation for non-alums and non-athletes). The magnitude of this change can be extrapolated into dollars by converting 1 point to $100 (i.e., which is the conversion rate based on direct donations to Michigan Athletics), which results in a net benefit to single alums in the amount of $1,500... and to athlete/alum couples of $9,000, etc.
Given that the current (as of 2012 based on the Michigan website) median for priority points is 21.2, this is a huge change.
| Current |
1 Alum (+15) |
2 Alums (+30) |
1 Athlete (+45) |
2 Athletes (+90) |
|
| 25% | 3.82 | 18.82 | 33.82 | 48.82 | 93.82 |
| 50% | 21.2 | 36.2 | 51.2 | 66.2 | 111.2 |
| 90% | 174.67 | 189.67 | 204.67 | 219.67 | 264.67 |
| 95% | 326.65 | 341.65 | 356.65 | 371.65 | 416.65 |
| 99% | 1365.81 | 1380.81 | 1395.81 | 1410.81 | 1455.81 |
What are your thoughts re: whether this is an appropriate change to properly value a Michigan degree and/or varsity athletic involvement? Does this unfairly affect the Michigan fans who are not alums?
November 30th, 2012 at 8:05 AM ^
That just happened this year for basketball. They re-seated all of Crisler and did a poor job in doing so, thereby enraging a lot of long time season ticket holders. I have had season tickets for basketball through some of the darkest hours and lost my seats due to the re-seating project. I would bet a dollar this is coming down the pipeline for football in the next 3 years.
November 29th, 2012 at 3:04 PM ^
November 29th, 2012 at 3:07 PM ^
This is just something that goes along with supporting a university you love, but did not attend. It's unfortunate, it sucks, but it's their club and they get to make the rules.
Also, all of you guys who want to come to my fake non-existant restaurant who AREN'T left-handed will from now on have to sit in the crappy seats next to the bathroom. Also, it's a mexican restaurant, so good luck.
November 29th, 2012 at 3:13 PM ^
Also, right now I get 10 points as I have 2 degrees from Michigan. Will I get 40 or just 20 now?
November 29th, 2012 at 3:34 PM ^
Source is "Annual Giving Guide" on MGoBlue.com (click on "Support", then search for the annual giving guide under one of the tabs, in case you're interested). I also received a hard copy in the mail with a "Those Who Stay" decal thanking me for this year's gifts, etc.).
November 29th, 2012 at 3:47 PM ^
Looks like I will just go to 20 as an Alumnus.
November 29th, 2012 at 3:14 PM ^
November 29th, 2012 at 3:33 PM ^
Does anyone know how I can check what my current priority points total is? Because I'm curious and want to see if they count my alumni points. Do I need to email someone?
November 29th, 2012 at 3:35 PM ^
Log on through MGoBlue (click sign-in then put in your user/pw). You have to link your ticket account, if you haven't done so yet.
December 2nd, 2012 at 9:09 AM ^
Exactly where do you login through MGoBlue to check priority points? Thanks in advance.
December 3rd, 2012 at 10:09 AM ^
1. Sign-in to your account. If you're having problems doing this, then click on buy tickets and then there will be a sign-in link on the upper right.
2. Once signed-in, click on "My Account".
3. In the center of the page, it should say "View My Priority Points".
November 29th, 2012 at 11:46 PM ^
The changes being discussed here don't take effect until February or March 2013.
November 29th, 2012 at 3:36 PM ^
I welcome more points as an alum. I've been buying season tickets off of someone else who has a few pair for the last few years. I'd love to get my own and maybe not sit in the endzone every season.
November 29th, 2012 at 3:55 PM ^
of current ticket holders, per the Annual Giving Guide:
Top 250 individuals: 2,028.49 points
Top 1%: 1,365.81
Top 5%: 326.65
Top 10%: 174.67
50%: 21.2
75%: 3.82
November 29th, 2012 at 4:06 PM ^
Yup, those were the numbers that I used in my "Current" column. I didn't use the top 250 number because it didn't chart well since it was unclear what fraction of the top percentile that included.
November 29th, 2012 at 4:23 PM ^
I should have looked back up at your post again! You tricked me by putting it from lowest to highest instead of highest to lowest!
November 29th, 2012 at 4:30 PM ^
Lol sorry. I actually did it that way so I could chart it on Excel (but I'm too technically unsavvy to post the chart up here). It's a very steep tail for the big givers, but my conclusion was that I think being around the 50th percentile would get you pretty good seats for most events (considering how large the stadiums are).
November 29th, 2012 at 3:58 PM ^
Www.mgoblue.com click on tickets, my account, sign in, then click tickets again, view priority points.
1. I am a non-alum w/ 35 points for those who were wondering about non alum pt totals.
2. Domestic partners, if athletes/alums are dom partners it will count provided they have Ann Arbor domestic partner ppwk. In all other cases you must be married - my GF's points can't help me.
3. The points are applied only to the current name on the ticket. When my grandfather was old M gave us the opportunity to transfer the tickets to me, but we forfeited his alum/athlete letter-winner/60+ years of donations/tickets points. Which is sad because man those points would help me.
November 29th, 2012 at 4:07 PM ^
Yup. Priority Points are like ITunes music or Frequent Flyer miles.... they die with the named beneficiary (unless transferred like you mentioned).
Unless of course, you marry and divorce the girl who would become your future daughter-in-law (with corresponding transfers of points upon marriage and divorce). Your son would end up with your priority points, but then your family would have all sorts of other problems....
November 29th, 2012 at 5:20 PM ^
November 29th, 2012 at 5:29 PM ^
Yes. You can combine husband/wife (or domestic partner) points, but not other family members.
I was making a joke in my second sentence... basically saying that if John marries Jane and they later divorce (and if the points ended up going to Jane per the divorce decree), then Jane can marry John Jr. (John's son from a previous marriage), and then you've essentially done a 2-step transfer of points from John to John Jr. by virtue of marrying the same woman, Jane.
It was a joke and I hope no one actually does that to facilitate a transfer of points, haha.
November 29th, 2012 at 4:18 PM ^
I'm new to this whole points system and had a few questions. Do you have to make the initial $500 donation to then get the 20 alum points, or are they just given to every alum? My wife graduated from UofM Flint, is she eligible for the 20 points? And then probably redundant, but if she is eligible, does she have to make a seperate $500 donation to get her 20 alum points?
It will be interesting what the extra points will do to the points as a whole. I graduated 2 years ago and never even thought about trying to get season tickets, but it seems like a $1000 donation could get me 50 points and potentially a chance to buy season tickets. If it attracts more people like me, then it should make the university a lot of money.
November 29th, 2012 at 4:51 PM ^
Congrats on your first post!
Q1. Not sure. You can try opening your MGoBlue.com account and check if you already have your alum points in there. I think technically even a $10 donation would get your account running because that would count as 0.1 point. Then with your alum points, it would be 20.1 (in 2013).
Q2. No clue on treatment of UofM Flint. You should probably call the ticket office with that question.
Q3. If she is eligible, you do NOT need to donate a separate amount for her. For example, my account is officially titled "Mr. John and Jane Doe" so you are seen as one entity in the points world.
November 29th, 2012 at 6:33 PM ^
says you no longer need to donate to activate points.
November 29th, 2012 at 6:51 PM ^
Yup, but that rule is effective starting next year. So today, you still need to activate points w/ a donation.
November 29th, 2012 at 4:48 PM ^
November 29th, 2012 at 4:22 PM ^
My wife and I met at Michigan. We've been donating to the Michigan Engineering Fund for over 20 years. The Engineering School knows we are valued alums. At last, we get some credit for being good alums when we actually give money to specific schools or programs instead of to the athletic dept.
November 29th, 2012 at 4:50 PM ^
November 29th, 2012 at 4:43 PM ^
This change is meaningless to me personally, because I will never again have season tickets. However, I do fall in a category that is a significant subset of alumni: I am working in a field where I will never be well off financially. This is a personal choice, which I made and am very happy with. However, I think that there are many graduates of Michigan who fall in this category:
- Teachers
- Social Workers
- Nurses
- Artists & Musicians
- Accountants
- Therapists
Obviously, none of the above are poverty stricken: they all have decent salary levels. But, if you are making 40,000 - 50,000 a year, you don't have a lot of disposable income for good seat locations at Michigan. You aren't a well heeled doctor or lawyer or titan in the business world. (And there are plenty of lawyers who struggle too.)
The point is, I think it is a completely reasonable and appropriate policy to reward those who have worked to earn a degree, and even moreso, those who have been part of a varsity team at Michigan.
p.s. At first, I thought this post was going to be a change in policy so that students who don't show up at games are banished to Siberia (Bolivia?) and conversely, students who are on time and go to games are given priority of better seats!!
November 29th, 2012 at 5:09 PM ^
EDIT: *double post, slow internet*
November 29th, 2012 at 4:53 PM ^
Well as a student this looks good for me once I graduate, but I'm curious as to what made them switch to give alumni the huge boost. Obviously they want to support the alumni, but are there a lot of alumni out there who can't get tickets because of not enough points?
November 29th, 2012 at 5:13 PM ^
Any UM alums interested in doubling our points? I'm gainfully employed and (mostly) house-broken.
November 29th, 2012 at 5:20 PM ^
What you're saying is that my wife owes me a lot of money so I can "donate" it to get the points I would've gotten if she'd gone to Michigan. Is that right?
November 29th, 2012 at 6:05 PM ^
That's just basic logic.
November 29th, 2012 at 7:12 PM ^
I like this. I got student season tickets every year I was a student, which I previously didn't get credit for. Now I do. So, cool.
November 29th, 2012 at 7:35 PM ^
I like it!
Not only does it matter in seat location, it matters to the parking lots. If you have enough points you get into one of the closer athletic department lots. I don't think the prices change with your location so it's a big deal whether you have more points. You could be by the tennis building down State street or by Oosterbaan and Yost.
With the money we sunk into the U the least they can do is give us a little credit for it.
November 29th, 2012 at 7:37 PM ^
as the fact they are giving me more credit for being smart and marrying my wife who is an alum as well! Bonus!!
November 29th, 2012 at 8:29 PM ^
November 29th, 2012 at 10:01 PM ^
November 30th, 2012 at 8:56 AM ^
Same thing for me. The only thing I can think is that both my mother and father got degrees.
November 29th, 2012 at 11:12 PM ^
stub hub/ street > season tix
November 30th, 2012 at 7:23 AM ^
My family has had the same tickets on the sideline since 1963. About 8 years ago they were transferred into my name.
I attended college elsewhere due to Title 9, I would have loved to go to Michigan but I also valued my sport and the opportunity I was given to play it. I have been reading through these threads on the issue, and while both my grandparents and parents went to Michigan, and I am currently considering an EMBA program there in the next few years; frankly the "Michigan" arrogance has come out from some posters here.
I have donated several thousand dollars to the University yearly-generally to Motts or the Archaeology department.. I have paid for Michigan Football and Basketball tickets, bought tickets to give away to charities, done pretty much all I could for the University. However, I am now basically told by the University "fuck off or pay up" more. (Especially since as a resident of Michigan my tax dollars also go to the University- Any priority points for that?)
This attitude is really starting to discourage me for cheering for the Wolverines or even attending Michigans EMBA program.
November 30th, 2012 at 8:14 AM ^
glad to see that I am not the only one that thinks this is crazy.
November 30th, 2012 at 9:02 AM ^
November 30th, 2012 at 9:20 AM ^
For one, if you're donating several thousand dollars a year, and been paying for season tickets, you should have more than enough points to get what you need from them. With relatively few points (initially), I was able to get season tickets, and have twice moved into what are essentially the best possible locations for the Preferred Seating Donation I have chosen to make.
November 30th, 2012 at 10:10 AM ^
[Edit - this is a reply to GWUWolverineFan]
You, sir, are a Michigan Man, just like any alum.
This change, like any change that benefits one group over another, has pros and cons and those can be debated. But, I think at the heart of the matter, we have to recognize that the underlying point system was simply created as a means to say "Thank You" to the donors, alums, athletes and other supporters of Michigan.
I donate to Michigan because I appreciate the school and all the experiences that I had while there (whether at football games or in the classroom). Your reason to donate could be based on totally different experiences, but each of our reasons is legitimate and worthy.
That being said, placing points on any action or affiliation is always going to be arbitrary. The points are not the end goal; but rather, the end goal is supporting Michigan.
November 30th, 2012 at 10:08 AM ^
[Edit - my second response to GWUWolverineFan]
I responded to this generally above, but I also wanted to respond to your specific points.
- Gifts to the Archaeology department (and maybe, Motts, I'm not sure) gets you 1 point for each $1,000 donation, just like any gift to the Law School, Business School or LSA.
- If you have season tickets, you get 1 point for each consecutive year of each season ticketed sport that you have.
- I don't think this change to the point system was intended to hurt non-alums (although it could put non-alums at a 15 point disadvantage compared to a UofM alum).
- You get zero points for your tax dollars to the State of Michigan. First, Michigan Athletics gets zero support from the University of Michigan and zero support from the State of Michigan (source: Annual Giving Guide). Second, your taxes are mandatory obligations that you have based on your earning of income in the State of Michigan (for example, if your income was zero, then your taxes paid to the State of Michigan would also be zero). FYI - your taxes (theoretically) pay for services that you and your fellow state citizens utilize.
- I apologize if there is any Michigan arrogance in any of my posts and I hope that doesn't dissuade you from choosing Michigan as a potential EMBA school. Good luck and Go Blue!
November 30th, 2012 at 1:11 PM ^
November 30th, 2012 at 9:08 PM ^
December 2nd, 2012 at 2:31 AM ^
BUT WHAT OF THE DROP OUTS WHO ARE MEMBERS OF THE ALUMNI ASSOCIATION?
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