Stony Brook meal plans costly, unfilling, students say

STONY BROOK, N.Y. — While Stony Brook University’s Bronze meal plan seems like an economically favorable decision for resident students, a Statesman review of Campus Dining prices and policies has revealed the plan is leaving students’ wallets and stomachs empty.

As of the Spring 2014 semester, 6,422 students were enrolled in one of the four residential meal plans the university offers, according to the Faculty Student Association website. Of those, 3,238 students were enrolled in the least expensive option—the Bronze plan.

The bronze plan costs $1,930 per semester including the $605 operating expense. This operating expense “is used to pay for Campus Dining facility renovations and debt service on new construction,” according to the FSA website. It is money that students cannot spend.

After that operating fee has been deducted, students are left with $1,325 to budget throughout the semester, or approximately $11 to spend per day. In order for a student to have enough money to extend through the 17-week fall term, the plan averages 10 meals per week.

“The bronze plan was never intended for people who are going to be here seven days a week,” Angela Agnello said. Agnello is the director of marketing and communications for the FSA, which runs Stony Brook’s Campus Dining Services.

However, Stony Brook University’s Spring 2014 Campus Dining Survey, conducted by the university’s Center for Survey Research, found that 71 percent of resident undergraduates on a meal plan “spend every or most weekends on campus during the semester and of those 71% report buying food on Saturday and Sunday.”

The same survey found that the Student Activities Center “is the most frequented dining facility for a plurality of undergraduates.” The cost of a turkey sandwich at the SAC is $6, and the cost of a 20-ounce bottle of water is $1.75. A student on the bronze plan who made those purchases would have only $3.25 for the rest of the day.

Taylor Bouraad, a junior majoring in marine vertebrate biology, used Stony Brook’s silver meal plan option until she decided to upgrade to gold after running out of money for four consecutive semesters. Bouraad said she tries to stay on campus most weekends throughout the semester.

The silver plan is less expensive than the gold, which costs $235 more for only two extra meals per week than the silver plan.

In comparison, the gold plan costs $353 more than the bronze plan for only three extra meals per week, while the silver plan costs $118 more than the bronze plan for only one extra meal per week.