UB is issuing prorated credits for meal plans, according to a Wednesday evening email from the UB Card Office.
Students with the Any 19, Any 14 or block plans will receive up to 50% of their meal plan cost, but plans must have remained unused since March 24. The email did not clarify if students who used plans after March 24 and have since left campus will be issued refunds.
UB first announced it would issue refunds on March 17, and Provost A. Scott Weber shared more information through an email on March 23. University officials determined the credit amount by calculating “the time remaining in the semester when the university went to distance learning,” according to Wednesday’s email.
Campus Dining and Shop follows a UB Card Accounts Agreement which ordinarily limits or prohibits meal plan refunds, credits or roll-over.
“This action is in response to extraordinary circumstances connected to the COVID-19 pandemic and the decision by the University to move to distance learning,” the email read. “This is due to the extraordinary circumstances, and should not be viewed as creating a policy that will be followed in the future.”
UB “inactivated” eligible student accounts, so students cannot use them for the rest of the semester.
Elizabeth Napolitano is the assistant news editor and can be reached at elizabeth.napolitano@ubspectrum.com.
Elizabeth "Liz" Napolitano is the senior news editor for The Spectrum. She's an optimistic pessimist who found her love for journalism in Ecuador. She likes late night walks and reading Twitter threads in their entirety.
