A committee overseeing the distribution of men’s basketball season tickets for Kansas University faculty, staff and retirees is scheduled to meet with athletic department officials today to clear up a misunderstanding about ticket packages.

In keeping with the ticket plan approved earlier this year, committee members assumed faculty, staff and retirees would have the option of buying full-, three-fourth, half- or quarter-season packages. But the option isn’t part of the purchase form provided by KU’s athletic department.

“We need to get this cleared up before we send the letters,” said Jerry Bailey, chairman of the three-member SenEx Basketball Ticket Committee. “It shouldn’t be a problem. The athletic department has been great to work with.”

Contacted by the Journal-World, KU associate athletic director Jim Marchiony said the discrepancy would be resolved. “We’ll come up with something that serves everybody well,” he said.

Plans call for sending renewal forms next week to more than 800 faculty, staff and retirees at both KU and KU Medical Center. Most are expected to buy two, full-season tickets. Seating assignments will be based on seniority.

Eventually, letters will be sent to those who buy tickets for confirmation of their years of service.

Kathy Reed, a committee member and an administrative specialist at the SenEx office, said she was having trouble contacting “about 20” spouses of faculty, staff or retirees who died since last year’s ticket allocation.

Under the current ticket plan, surviving spouses are eligible for full- or partial-season tickets for three years.

“I’ve put out the word,” Reed said. “I’m hope they call because, as it is, I don’t have a lot of information to go on.”

Citing confidentiality concerns, Reed declined to identify the surviving spouses.

Faculty, staff and retirees are expected to pay $1,241 for a pair of full-season tickets. The price includes their 20 percent discount.

The renewal option is available only to faculty, staff and retirees who had tickets for the 2003-04 season. Those without tickets will be eligible for a lottery for distributing at least 800 quarter-season tickets.

Plans call for inviting faculty, staff and retirees to take part in the lottery “sometime after Labor Day,” Bailey said, “because we’ll want to make sure all new faculty and staff are on the mailing list.”

Because the 2004-05 season includes 19 home games, it’s unclear how many games will be included in a quarter-season package. Bailey said he expected the athletic department to define the ticket packages.

“We’ll come up with a number,” Marchiony said, noting that one of the home games will be at Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Mo. It also is possible that a 20th home game could be added to the schedule.

The quarter-season packages will be good for two years, after which there will be another lottery.

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