An audit into Kennesaw State University’s dining services revealed the university accrued roughly $2 million from off-campus students paying for meal plans as part of their semester fees, according to a report by Fox 5 Atlanta.
Meal plans at the Kennesaw, Ga., university are automatically assessed to students whether they live on campus or not. The university does not refund unused meals, draining the pockets of commuter students each semester.
“I think it’s ridiculous that we pay all this tuition and then we’re here paying another big fee,” commuter student Emmanuel Almeda told Fox 5.
The audit comes after Fox 5 I-Team probed into KSU’s former Director of Culinary Services Gary Coltek. The investigation team uncovered that Coltek used his university email for personal business ventures and collected money under the table from KSU’s food vendor, Sodexo, for securing their foodservice contract.
Coltek denied all wrongdoing, but resigned weeks later.
The investigation also revealed that administrators “cooked the books” to make the sunk dining division appear to be thriving and enable pay raises at taxpayers’ expense.
The Board of Regents of the University of Georgia called for a complete rebidding of the dining services contract, stating the university should not require commuter students to purchase meal plans.
Currently, the university’s culinary and hospitality services’ website indicates only senior commuter students are exempt from mandatory meal plans. The criminal investigation is ongoing.