Returning students are surprised to find an unannounced 50 cent upcharge per meal trade and shortened operating hours.
Students returning to campus this semester were surprised to discover a 50 cent fee any time they used a meal trade at the Allen Chapman Student Union — however, meal swipes at Pat Case Dining Center are unaffected. According to one professor, this upcharge was likely implemented to offset the cost of keeping chain restaurants on campus. The chains are not inexpensive, and this is especially true for meal trades, which are a relatively unique phenomena to the University of Tulsa. At many other universities, meal swipes are only available for use in the dining halls, while dining dollars must be used in restaurants. This change encourages students to use their meal swipes at Pat Case instead of in the Union, saving the University money by doing so.
Many students have expressed discontent with this new policy. This is partially because, save for a very small section on the Dining Rates section of the University website, it was completely unannounced. Many students found out exclusively through word-of-mouth. Additionally, for some reason or another, being charged the fee seems to be the exception, not the rule. Possibly because of tech failure or lack of proper communication with Union employees, many students have not yet been charged extra for using meal trades. When asked about the topic, junior Michael Burford said he heard about the change from his friends, and despite having used several meal trades in the Union this week, has not paid the convenience fee once. When asked how he felt about the fee, he said that at first, “I was very negative about it.” After a while though, his stance changed, “It’s fairly reasonable, but I am annoyed about it.” However, this is only one of the many recent changes by the University to cut down on costs in the Union.
The university has made several other changes to the student dining experience. Most notably, Gus T’s no longer exists. While TU’s turbulent mascot lives on, his Italian restaurant is no more. In its place is Wild Blue Sushi. This change makes Subway the only restaurant open past 9 p.m. on campus, as well as the only restaurant open on Saturday night. While there are rumours of Panda Express or another chain restaurant going in where Wild Blue used to be, no official statement has been released. For now, students must contend with one less restaurant choice available.
According to students, TU dining issues are further compounded by the Hurricane Market’s newly reduced hours, which are now solely weekdays from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Other hours have shifted as well — Chick-fil-A now opens an hour later, at 9 a.m. and Einstein’s closes 30 minutes earlier than it did last year. Junior Ian Orr expressed his disappointment at the decreasing business hours: “We already didn’t have many options on Saturday anyway, and the Market not being open just makes it worse.” he lamented. “It’s kind of sad.”
Many students at TU are frustrated with the reduced schedules and the unannounced and inconvenient addition of the meal trade charge. However, the University has made no indication that these changes will be temporary, nor is there any guarantee that this is the end of the adjustments to its meal program.
