Dining dollars policy change will require underclassmen residents to choose higher options

As of fall 2024, both first and second-year students will have to purchase one of the three highest meal plans. // Photo courtesy of Gabriel Prevots.

First-year and sophomore resident students will have to select a dining dollar plan from options 5, 6, or 7, according to an email announcement on Feb. 7 by Jessica Eads, the vice president of Student Enrollment, Engagement and Success. Plans 5, 6 and 7 are the highest meal plans resident students can choose from. Previously, only first-year students had to abide by these guidelines.

The change will take effect in fall 2024.

According to the email announcement, Hofstra University records showed that “when students choose a smaller dining dollars option in their second year, they often end up adding money to that plan or running out of dining dollars early in the semester.”

In a memo released to administration concerning the dining dollars program, the school records found that 65% of sophomore students added money to their dining dollars account, with the average sophomore student adding up to $800.

Despite what those records show, many students are apprehensive about having to purchase a more expensive plan. Natalia Stornello, a freshman drama major and resident student, believes there is also an issue of students not running out of money but having too much left.

“I already have a huge surplus of dining dollars left over from last semester,” Stornello said. “I tried to get rid of it as much as possible, and I still had a ton left over, so I really don’t want to go through it all again next year.”

“When I was a first-year student here, I had the same problem,” said Christianos Vitsikanos, a junior international student. “I had too much money left. I had to donate it here at the university.”

Tara Torborg, a freshman psychology and criminology major and resident, believes the policy change is unfair to those who are already budgeting their dining dollars well.

“If a student gets to their sophomore year, and they realize, ‘I blew through that plan last year,’ they need to buy a higher plan,” Torborg said. “But that shouldn't affect the rest of the [sophomore] community as well.”

Besides student spending patterns, the university implemented the change for financial and logistical reasons, according to Facilities and Operations vice president Joe Barkwill.

“In totality, [the change] is [in place] because we have to look at everything in terms of modifications, renovations, operating costs and everything,” Barkwill said.

When Hofstra University signed a contract with Compass Group in May 2017 to take over dining services, students raised concerns about issues such as high food prices, availability of healthy food and options for students with dietary restrictions. Many of those same concerns still remain prevalent among students.

Torborg, for instance, believes the food on campus is not worth what it costs. “The price of what you're paying and the quality of the food that you're getting is not on par with each other.”

Although the stated reasons for changing the program are about more than just students, Barkwill reaffirms that they are the main reason for the decision. “We were looking at the safety of the students and … health concerns in terms of making sure they had meals, that they're managing their meals properly, that they were not going hungry, and not running out of points and not being able to do something from a budgetary standpoint.”

Since the change is not yet in effect, the actual impact on students and the cost of eating on campus remains to be seen. The controversy surrounding it, however, seems likely to persist.