Exeter College has today emailed students outlining a number of cheaper alternatives to the current catering charge.
The charge has been a subject of controversy at the college and across the University. Last term, students staged a two and a half week hall boycott in protest at the charge and launched a popular “Hallternatives” scheme, which led to an open meeting between students and senior management and subsequent consideration by Governing Body.
As it stands, students at Exeter College pay an £840 per year, non-redeemable catering charge, the highest in Oxford by a margin of £116 per term.
In response to the criticism, the college’s Governing Body last week devised four alternative schemes has proposed a vote on the options next week open to all students.
Members of Governing Body will also answer questions in an open meeting in Hall tomorrow afternoon.
The proposed options, as stated in an email sent to all JCR and MCR members, include a pre-payment meal plan, an abolishment of the catering charge for those living out of college, a pre-payed redeemable chrage with an adjustment of rents and food costs, as well as a reduction of the proposed catering charge.
Options two and three would involve 50% cuts to four main college grants, including the vacation study grant.
The email tells students, “All of the new schemes involve an increase to the amount by which the College subsidises eating in Hall, and all represent a substantially increased financial risk to Exeter College. However, recognising the dissatisfaction in College on this matter, the Fellows are prepared to take on this increased risk, because of our commitment to the College community, and because it is our belief that eating in Hall plays a critically important part in the intellectual, social, cultural, and sporting life of the College.”
It adds, “We very much welcome feedback from students on matters relating to the running of the College, and plan to reinforce this function of Liaison Committee in the coming year, in consultation with the JCR and MCR. That said, we wish to emphasise that we expect that the option selected by the students next week will represent a settlement that can be maintained for the long term, updated in line with inflation, and that it will therefore not be necessary to reopen discussions on this matter for the foreseeable future.”
It attaches a breakdown of projected costs to students of all four options.
Exeter JCR President Richard Collett-White told Cherwell, “Most of the JCR will view this as progress. One option, in particular, significantly reduces up-front, fixed battels and should be favourably received: it’s a movement towards a system where we’re no longer forced to subsidise hall and can instead decide for ourselves whether the food on offer is good value for money, bringing us more in line with other colleges.
Exeter College has not yet replied to requests for comment.
