On October 29, 2024, Student Senate had their monthly meeting with many proposed changes for upcoming semesters, including how to help Stockton with food service costs.

Senior Vice President of Administration and Finance and Chief Financial Officer, Jennifer Potter, Executive Director of Budget, Financial Planning and Campus Services, Diane Garrison, and Chartwells Representatives Christopher Famularo and Nicole Bell proposed some changes to the meal services on campus to address food insecurity, maximize student buying power, promote flexibility for students on-the-go, and promote tax savings. 

As enrollment at Stockton has decreased and retention rates have dropped, Stockton’s ability to cover their food service costs is directly impacted. Currently, Stockton is breaking even on food service revenue and food service expenses. They have continued to hold the same prices on food as they had during COVID times, which lowered the cost of food on campus, but now, with inflation increasing steadily, they need to make up for the cost of the food supply. Expenses are now exceeding revenue by a significant amount. The university tried to keep meal plans down during COVID so struggling students could still eat on campus; they tried their best to hold the meal plan increase to two percent, while the Consumer Price Index (CPI) was going up about six to seven percent, causing a five percent gap.

The university needs to cover these contract prices. They have been trying to cut costs by shortening hours of operations in different food service locations on campus, while also trying not to close locations and take away food options for students. The university has also made slight price increases on campus with Dunkin’ Donuts and other brand name locations. After speaking with Chartwells’ senior leadership on how they should compensate in this situation, one option is to move away from meal equivalency, and the second option is to implement a dining dollar meal plan. 

Diane Garrison spoke about the pilot program that would implement these aforementioned meal plan options in the upcoming spring semester. Garrison spoke on the fact that the university wants to make sure that all students are able to afford food on campus through their meal swipes so that no student is going hungry while on campus while also covering the food expenses. 

Nicole Bell spoke about how Chartwells wants to get rid of the perceived dollar value because there are so many students with either too many meal swipes left at the end of each semester or students aren’t using enough because they have no idea what to spend their meal swipes on. “This really structures what you will be able to buy; it helps ensure a well-balanced meal, and it helps students budget meals vs. flex. I will say when we were opening Einstein’s and I was helping with training, I would have a student that wanted to come up and buy a $2.99 bagel and cream cheese and waste an $8 meal swipe,” Bell said. They continue to promote buying additional items to cover the entire meal swipe because this is causing the food cost to break even between expenses and revenue. 

The proposed Osprey Connect Meal Plan would be for full-time undergraduate students without a meal plan: it is a two hundred dollar value to aid in the decrease of food insecurity and promote community engagement on campus. This will also aid those with tax savings during the tax season; when paying the two hundred dollars, students will get the entire two hundred in dining dollars or meal swipes. Students will be able to use the GET app to pay if they happen to not have their ID on them at the time they are getting food.

Additionally, bonus dollars and recharge dollars will roll over into following semesters if not entirely used by the end of the semester before. This meal plan is available for use on both the Galloway and Atlantic City campuses, and it would automatically be added to students’ Spring 2025 bills. However, there will be an opt-out option for those who may not eat on campus or cannot afford this change during the designated meal plan drop/add period, which is typically the first two weeks of the semester. 

The benefits of having the Osprey Connect plan are flexibility and convenience for students, especially those that do not carry their IDs or cash on them at all times. All purchases will be tax exempt, and using this meal plan will save you a lot of money on taxes during the semester. This plan does not work for students on the Manahawkin or Hammonton campuses, as there is no place to redeem it. 

Typically, the meal exchange has a system referred to as the ABC, with A being fifty percent of your meal, while B and C are twenty-five percent of your meal. All campus locations would be implementing a meal that would be able to cover exactly one meal swipe using the ABC system. One main question brought up was, “What if students want a more expensive protein in their meal?” The solution given was that it would work similarly to how it does currently. Additional hot/cold food offerings would be available with a meal swipe, but the additional charge would need to be covered by Flex or Osprey Cash. However, if students want extra items such as bottled water, candy/snacks, or non-food/grocery items, they will be available but will need to be purchased with dining dollars, Osprey Cash, cash, or credit. These items can still be purchased via one transaction. 

An example given was that if students want a meal equivalency food at Einstein Bros. Bagels, such as a bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich, that would come with a bag of chips and a beverage. If this student wanted to add another beverage, such as a cold brew or smoothie, you would need to cover that with Flex or Osprey Cash. Prices will also be adjusted based on food costs annually.

These changes will begin to be implemented in the upcoming Spring 2025 semester. Students should be wary of changes being added to their bills if they do not want these changes added. 

To stay aware of campus updates such as this, be sure to attend the next Student Senate public meeting on November 26.