Students planning to live on campus this fall must sign up for a meal plan to submit a housing application -- and that, according to one ASU student, violates Arizona Board of Regents policy.
Richard Sales, Undergraduate Student Government senator for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, said that since ABOR has not approved the specifics of the meal plan, signing up for it should not yet be mandatory.
The regents approved the mandatory meal plan in concept in January 2005, but they will not vote on the specifics of the plan until their meeting in March.
"This is a blatant disregard for the regents," said Sales, a political science junior.
But Brett Perozzi, director of the Memorial Union, has been working with the meal plan committee and said the meal plan is not in effect because students do not have to pay meal plan charges until after the regents approve the prices.
"The concept of an inclusive meal plan -- we've been operating on the fact that that is moving forward," Perozzi said. "But the details of what the meal plan will look like are subject to ABOR approval."
The controversy is in the online housing application, which cannot be submitted without a meal plan selection. The paper application states students who do not select a meal plan will automatically be assigned one.
After Sales discovered the meal plan issue at the end of December, he sent an e-mail to all of the regents, he said.
The only ones to respond were student regents Benjamin Graff and Ed Hermes, Sales added.
Hermes, a political science and history senior, said he and Graff are concerned with the issue.
"It is a very serious issue if our University implements a program of this size and scale and level of controversy without proper approval," Hermes said.
He and Graff also called Campus Dining posing as incoming freshmen inquiring about the meal plan, he said.
"We were very poignantly told yes, there is a meal plan program in effect and the current prices are what you have to choose from," Hermes said. "I don't believe that it has received proper board approval to be at the implementation stage it is at right now."
While the other regents could not be reached for comment, they have voiced pro-mandatory meal plan sentiments at past meetings.
Perozzi said the meal plan committee would address Sales' concerns by posting the Campus Dining phone number -- (480) 727-DINE -- on the applications by Jan. 23 and allowing students who have already paid for a meal plan to apply for refunds if the board does not approve the matter.
If the price of the meal plans decrease after ABOR approval, then Campus Dining would offer refunds to all students for the value of the discrepancy, he said.
But Sales said this was not enough.
"They should inform every student that they can opt out of the plan they purchased," he said. "And if the administration does not make the appropriate corrections to the Web site, I will be firmly in support of a senate resolution to step up the pressure."
Hermes agreed, saying he thinks everyone who has already paid for a meal plan should receive a refund.
He said he is looking forward to working on the matter with the regents and ASU administration.
"I am confident at this point we can come up with some sort of resolution that follows board approval procedure correctly," he said.
But Sales said he is not sure that the administration would do anything to rectify the issue.
"Knowing this administration's history of not respecting student concerns, it's hard to tell that they would," he said. "And that's a shame."
Reach the reporter at tara.brite@asu.edu.
