"Students never wanted to make changes in dining services."

That is simply not true.  Students via SGA pushed the University to make this change.  This came as a result of students demanding significant change in our dining services. Also this change did not happen overnight.  SGA was strategic in advocating student demands for years (especially since 2006) and its advocacy worked.

"Students never had the opportunity to be involved in this decision."

Since the 2006 SGA has requested numerous times for student feedback on what they expected from dining services.  It included a series of survey feedback, responses to email complaints, requests for feedback via email and pure conversations/forums with students.   All of which was communicated to both the Dining Services Committee and the RFP Dining Review Committee.

Even in the Fall 2007, as Services Vice President, Rudy used various methods of outreach to inform students about dining services.  Rudy responded to student, staff and faculty complaints, surveyed SGA Senators, collected information about student spending habits, placed feedback opportunities in the Louisville Cardinal and sent information to all students via email.  All of this information was communicated to the Dining Services Advisory Board and the RFP Dining Review Committee.

Also in the course of the first few weeks of school this semester, there were a series of Louisville Cardinal articles, editorials & advertisements, Student Affairs and Sodexo forums, SGA emails to every student, Belknap campus publications and over 6000 full page brochures detailing these changes that were handed out.  Most of these brochures were distributed at the Stadium parking shuttle stop to ensure off campus students were informed about this change.

"The meal plan is just another way of saying a tuition increase."

While the addition of the meal plan will increase the overall cost of attendance to UofL, it is not a tuition increase.  The meal plan is dollar for dollar benefit for students.  Students will pay for a meal plan and get exactly that dollar amount back in food from Sodexo dining services.

"Why does the meal plan have to be mandatory?"

To obtain the level of expectations that students demanded from dining services, we needed to upgrade and expand our dining facilities.  UofL could not ask the KY General Assembly for assistance because state policy does not allow funding to build dining facilities.  So we had to be creative on moving forward.  UofL asked Sodexo to front the $11 million dollars in capital improvements. To pay for their capital investment, UofL had to develop a consistent revenue stream.  The only way UofL could have a consistent revenue stream is by having a mandatory plan; with a waiver for exemptions.  

"All students have to get the meal plan."

This is not true.  UofL attempted to be as fair as possible by targeting the populations that requested the dining services improvements and whose current spending habits would not cause additional financial burdens.  Therefore if you are a full-time, undergraduate commuter student and you are taking your classes at the Belknap campus, you will be required to buy the $250/semester meal plan.  This breaks down to roughly $5.57 per day if you are on campus three days a week.

All Belknap Campus resident students will also be required to purchase a meal plan.  Students living on campus in residence halls without a kitchen will have a $1,165 meal plan.  Students living on campus in residence halls with kitchens will have a $745 meal plan.

For those who are required to have a meal plan and do not believe that Sodexo will meet your needs, a waiver will be available online closer to the implementation date.  The details about the waiver have not been determined because UofL wanted to make sure students had ample time to make recommendations as to what should be included in the waiver.