IUP has been selected by the Pennsylvania Governor’s office as a Pennsylvania Hunger-Free Campus Plus.
The Hunger-Free Designation shows that the school has programs and methods in place to connect students to food options, strategies to increase awareness and help students apply for SNAP benefits, the creation of a task force to address hunger needs and raising awareness and the collection and reporting of data on student food inventory. While the university has had the Hunger-Free designation since 2022, they achieved the plus status this year as a result of initiatives that go beyond the required criteria for the designation. That includes offering a variety of meal plans, including an option that does not compromise SNAP eligibility; offering meal-sharing programs; actively educating student leaders on campus to create student-centered programs; and facilitating community partnerships related to food insecurity.
In a statement, IUP vice president for student affairs Dr. Tom Segar said that the IUP community continues to support outreach initiatives like the on-campus food pantry and help center and that “Focusing on student success includes ensuring that our students’ basic needs are met, removing barriers that they face – including food insecurity – and making sure that our students know about, and can easily access, the resources in place to support them.”
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