St. Thomas University has decided to remove the 10 and 14 meal’s a week plan options for students. STU will move forward with just an unlimited meals plan or ‘freedom plan.’
This is a decision that has made some STU students uneasy about their financial situation.
Shikshit Singh, a second-year criminology student, said that he was ‘shocked’ by the news. He first found out from an email sent by the university in the beginning of the summer.
He had already budgeted his funds for the upcoming school year, and this announcement changed his plans completely.
“I wouldn’t have been able to manage my funds and financials because it was [announced] not even between my first academic year; it was within the intersession,” said Singh. “It would’ve been hard.”
Amidst the news, Singh decided to draft a petition to reinstate the 10 and 14 meal plans due to the financial burden these changes would have caused for him and his classmates.
Furthermore, Singh said that the changes were too abrupt. In the email he addressed to the students, Singh wrote that the decision to remove the 10 and 14 meal plans was done ‘without adequate transparency and consultation’.
“Everyone had already planned a budget,” said Singh. “Their parents had already planned; my parents had already planned how the financial year [would be], like everything got dissolved because of that.”
Cory Flynn, acting director of student services, admitted to the lack of transparency when the changes were announced.
Flynn said that the Residence Life office had moved the room and meal selections for students to February and March instead of May, as they were customarily done in years prior.
This conflicted with the university’s budget cycle that also took place in May, in which the new budgets and prices for the university were announced in STU’s annual budget summary.
Once the petition that was developed by Singh was presented to the university, they decided to delay the changes to the meal plan system.
“After [the petition] was brought up to us, we realized it’s not really fair for us to do that,” said Flynn.
However, despite the financial concerns students presented in the petition, STU has decided to continue with only the freedom plan beginning next year.
According to Flynn, this decision took many factors into consideration, such as the student’s usage of their meal plans, the current food provider trends and a concern in food security.
Furthermore, Flynn said that moving forward with just the freedom plan made more sense cost wise for the university. Aramark, STU’s food provider, will lower down the costs per-meal with the more expensive plan.
“We decided to do that because the students are actually getting more from their freedom plan, even though it seems more expensive with the total price,” said Flynn.
Despite the fact that the 10 and 14 meal plans will be removed next academic year, Singh said that he is glad that the petition worked for the time being, since he will have more time to financially prepare himself if he decides to live in residence.
“The university heard us, and the students understood,” said Singh. “I’m happy, it’s a win-win for both.”
