JULES HOEPTING
Managing Editor
The rumors swirled among students and faculty before being confirmed. When asked in a one-on-one interview with The Leader if Tim Hortons, the Blue Devil Grill and FREDExpress were set to close fall semester 2022, Darin Schulz, the executive director of the Faculty Student Association (FSA), replied, “Yes, unfortunately, it is true.”
The reasoning behind these closures is quite simple: FSA was created to serve Fredonia students, and the fewer students there are — due to low enrollment — the less money there is to fund FSA.
It is no secret SUNY Fredonia’s enrollment has been on a sharp decline in the past few years. In 2008, enrollment was well over 5,000 students, according to Fredonia’s 2013–2023 Facilities Master Capital Plan. In 2018, enrollment was at 4,677 according to the “Fredonia at a Glance” page on fredonia.edu.
During the College Council meeting on March 30, 2022, Frank Pagano, chairperson of the council, stated, “the enrollment expectations for September [2022] are going to be around 3,820.” This expectation is in line with last year’s fall enrollment of around 3,780 students, as written in the Student Demographic of Fall 2021 document found on Fredonia’s Institutional Research, Planning and Assessment website page.
Declining university enrollment is an issue currently faced at numerous SUNY universities and can be attributed to a declining New York State high school population (see Facilities Master Capital Plan). Low enrollment has been amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic, Schulz explained, adding that the option of online classes encourages students to stay at home — and not eat on campus.
Something people are often unaware of is that SUNY Fredonia and FSA are two different entities. FSA is a non-profit that serves SUNY Fredonia; the university does not fund FSA.
During the pandemic, FSA was able to stay financially afloat through Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act Funding, which included Payroll Protection Program and Employee Retention Credit. FSA was able to bring in $4.8 million to campus through these programs, which help offset operating expenses.
But funding from the CARES Act will be exhausted by the end of the 2023–2024 academic year, according to Schulz. Efforts have been made to bring in funding and/or reduce the amount of money being spent, such as selling forest on the College Lodge property to the Western New York Land Conservancy for $300,000 and closing some of its cafes during the pandemic. However, FSA is still in a deficit. In order to stay financially afloat, it decided to close more of its cafes and increase the price of meal plans. All residential meal plans will increase by $250 dollars while two of the three commuter meal plans will rise by $50 for the upcoming fall semester, as seen by comparing the FSA Meal Plan Brochures for the 2021–2022 and 2022–2023 academic years.
There is “no way to be able to continue the scope of operations with the current level of enrollment without dramatically increasing meal plans,” Schulz stated.
“We’re still losing money this coming budget year, even with these changes that we made. But we do have a plan to get back into a positive budget territory. It’s just going to take a few years to implement, and there’s a lot of consolidations and administrative changes that we’re going to be making to do so,” Schulz explained.
He declined to speak more specifically about these changes, saying “there’s a lot that needs to happen over the next three to four years.” Schulz said that with this plan, FSA was “going to get to a point where I don’t expect to see any more operational closures.”
He further explained that, if enrollment increases, the currently closed and set-to-be closed cafes could reopen. He also emphasized that despite there being less cafes open during the next academic year, those cafes will have more food options.
Some of the cafes will have hour adjustments as well: McEwen Café will open at 7:45 a.m., three hours earlier than it currently opens, and the Convenience Store, will open at 9 a.m., an hour later than it currently does. Willy C’s, Cranston Marché, Starbucks and Mason Café will maintain current hours next fall.
So, why close Tim Hortons?
FSA held a 10-year contract with the coffee and donut franchise that started in 2012 and ended in 2022, explained Jenna Woods, Student Representative on FSA Executive Board, during an interview. FSA decided not to renew the contract because the organization was slightly in the red with the franchise because of labor costs.
Most Tim Hortons are “built on a model of about 70% beverages and 30% food,” Schulz explained, adding the FSA’s Tim Hortons sold “about 70% food and 30% beverages.” He further explained the franchise business model “revolves around getting customers through as fast as they can,” by selling a lot of beverages along with pre-made, ready-to-go food such as donuts and muffins.
Because SUNY Fredonia allows meal plans to be used at the on-campus franchise, the business model is thrown off as many students purchase made-to-order food such as bagels, wraps and paninis. “To be able to prepare food, it takes significantly more labor than it does to prepare beverages,” Schulz said.
He also noted that, although Tim Hortons on campus was often busy, “the perception of busy is relative because when we were busy, we were really busy, but when we were slow, we were really slow.” The franchise was staffed with enough people to handle rushes at all times, which became a money drain for FSA during slow hours.
As for closing the Blue Devil Grill?
The unit that rotates between Mexican, Mediterranean and Italian and cuisine on a weekly basis required a lot of labor. Again, most of the offerings on the menu were made-to-order as opposed to grab-and-go, Schulz explained.
“We are still going to be able to incorporate some of the menu items from the Blue Devil Grill into our remaining units,” such as Willy C’s, Schulz explained. “So there may not be another full menu of what Italian week was or Mediterranean or Mexican, but there’ll be certain items from there that were extremely popular.”
So, why FREDExpress?
The mini store in Thompson Hall is technically under University Bookstore operations, though it is treated as a café. Schulz said the store had “extremely low” traffic. Furthermore, there will be a snacking option present with the student-run business club cafe, the Snack Shack, in Thompson remaining in operation next fall.
As for how these closures will impact those employed by FSA at Tim Hortons, Blue Devil Grill and FREDExpress? Student employees will not be greatly impacted since “every student has to apply again anyway, every semester, every academic year” and FSA has “had a lot of open student positions,” Schulz explained. In theory, the fewer positions there are to fill, the easier it will be to fill those positions.
“It’s really difficult to incentivize students [to work at FSA] when they can go out five minutes down the road, and get a job for $20 an hour versus working for $12.13 an hour here. So there’s a little incentivization problem. We’re not a major corporation. We’re a school, but we’re also a business that has to function accordingly,” Woods explained. (See “Students and FSA employees react to impending closure of Tim Hortons, Blue Devil Grill and FREDExpress.”)
Union member employees “have rights to bumping” and “bidding on other [FSA union] jobs,” Schulz explained, adding that “most of [the union workers] will find a place in another unit on campus.” At the time of the interview, March 28, Schulz said there were seven open union positions.
Three FSA union workers were asked if they would like to be interviewed to provide commentary on the situation. All three declined. Two openly expressed frustration towards the situation but were worried of the potential consequences of going on-record. One made two phone calls asking if they could provide their opinion to the student newspaper before declining an interview.
The plan to close the cafes was drafted by the Budget Committee and approved by the FSA Board of Directors, which contains several vacant spots for student representatives. Both Woods and Nyles Panus, current student representatives, expressed a need for more students on the board.
“If students want to weigh in with their opinion, there’s always an opportunity to join the [FSA] board and be an active member in these committees,” Panus said. Panus is a student treasurer who worked on the budget. Woods helped approve the amendments.
Woods admitted she was initially “skeptical” about passing the amendments, but after a 40-minute explanation and discussion with the board, felt “comfortable” with the board’s decision.
“I think [FSA’s] largest concern is solving the problem of the deficit, and [FSA is] well aware that they’re taking things away from students. And, unfortunately, their faculty will feel the impact as well. It’s just something I believe they would not do unless they absolutely had to,” said Woods.
By spring 2023, it will be apparent how these cafe closures have impacted campus.
