Tickets to Success by Ben Chamness

SIU Residence Life has some great things going on, and we want to showcase some of our proud moments on our blog. We also hope people considering working in RA, graduate assistant, or full-time positions with our department will take a minute to learn more about the things we are doing. More information about our department, including position descriptions, application information, and graduate and full-time staff profiles can be found on our recruitment website. Today's post was written by Benjamin Chamness, Graduate Assistant for Academic Initiatives. In addition to Tickets to Success, Ben works with our Living Learning Communities and Faculty/University Associate program.

Tickets to Success is a program offered by SIU Residence Life to reward students who perform well academically, become involved on campus, and engage with faculty members. Throughout the program, students earn “tickets” for doing various things. Students are able to receive tickets for visiting the SIU Writing Center or Math Tutoring Center. Students may also earn tickets for attending certain educational events around campus, visiting instructors during office hours, and "getting caught" studying in the residence halls. Students are able to register their tickets online for a chance to win prizes. We hold monthly drawings throughout the semester, and a final drawing at the end of the semester for the grand prize. The grand prizes last semester included a Kindle Fire HD, some iPod Shuffles, and a gift certificate for the University Bookstore.Prizes for our spring event will include a tablet, headphones, digital camera, software, and more! Check them out here.

Tickets to Success has grown throughout the past few semesters. The program is a relatively new initiative at SIU, as it only began in the Spring 2012 semester (when it was called "Saluki Rock the House"). Last fall, the program was renamed “Tickets to Success,” and it took on the structure it has today. We created a website that allows students to register their tickets and receive updates on the program. In addition, the program expanded to include more events on campus. This semester, we have expanded the program even further. We have reached out to the Faculty/University Associates and Living Learning Community faculty/staff who are involved in our residence halls to assist in the program. This helped increase support of the program across campus and allowed us to raise the awareness of amazing events already happening on campus.