Background

On Friday 2017-02-03, the Office of Residence Life at Stevens Institute of Technology published an email outlying a series of policy amendments to their housing requirements for the 2017-2018 academic year. Among these amendments includes a new additional requirement that residents of Stevens Leased Housing (off-campus housing) sign up for an on-campus meal plan.

Reasoning

We believe this policy amendment to be unreasonable and without due consultation with the Stevens community. Prior to this policy change, students enjoyed the freedom to dine both on-campus and at merchants throughout Hoboken as they wished. However, it is our belief that arbitrarily restricting the locations at which students may dine poses a direct conflict with both the students’ freedoms of choice as they transition to responsible young adults and the financial wellbeing of Duckbills merchants. We are disappointed that the Stevens students were not consulted before this contract was compiled, but we insist that our voice still be heard on the matter.

The proposed lowest tier meal plan offers 25 meals per semester at an expense of $350 USD – which is equivalent to $14 USD per meal. We believe that this average price per meal is completely exorbitant when one considers that a student may spend much less money for higher quality food in Hoboken. In addition, when one compares the quality of food being served in a dining hall as opposed to a restaurant the price discrepancy is even more evident.

Various signees have also brought to our attention numerous health concerns regarding food quality, dietary restrictions, and allergens. Other signees have raised concerns regarding the operational logistics of such policy changes with respect to both dining hall occupancy and Stevens Shuttle delays. In order for an SLH resident to utilize their meal plan, students must either wait up to 30 minutes for the next shuttle to campus or walk 0.83 miles (weighted average) to the Howe Building – a delay which is especially burdensome for students on co-op living out of their SLH apartment.

Proposed Resolution

Therefore, we formally request that the Office of Residence Life respectfully take into consideration this petition, the comments of its signees, and amend their housing requirement policies to permit SLH residents to purchase $300 USD worth of duckbills in lieu of an on-campus meal plan.