During the 2023-2024 academic year, there were 155 students with various disabilities requesting meal accommodations. The following year, there was a 64% increase, with 255 students requesting accommodations, according to Robert Landolphi, the director of culinary development for UConn Dining Services. 

Students with food allergies are considered students with disabilities, and there is a wide variety of impairments that may qualify for dining accommodations, such as students living with certain metabolic conditions, nutritional modifications, neurological limitations, or texture sensitivities. 

“Eligibility depends on documentation, functional impact, and whether Dining Services can reasonably provide accommodations without fundamentally altering operations,” Landolphi says. 

Lilly Tartsinis, UConn’s registered dietitian, schedules individual meetings with students who receive accommodations. She asks the students what they would eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and helps them build their meals using their responses. To promote balanced eating and meeting daily nutrient intake, Tartsinis asks students if they would consider eating certain items such as beans and various vegetables, and if they don’t incorporate certain food groups in their diet. She acts as a support system for students and informs them how they will receive the accommodations they need. 

In every dining hall, each food item has a QR code posted above the serving trays that students can scan to learn about its allergens and nutritional content. In addition to providing accommodations for students with medically necessary dietary needs or other circumstances, UConn Dining also offers a wide variety of gluten-free, kosher, halal, vegan, and vegetarian options.

Bryanna Anderson is the associate director of the Center for Students with Disabilities. She acts as a liaison with Dining Services and meets with Landolphi and Tartsinis often to evaluate how to best support students. She says the Center for Students with Disabilities and Dining Services have a great working relationship. 

“I am continuously amazed at the level of assistance they provide to students,” she says. 

Students who need dining accommodations start with CSD MyAccess. From there, students must state the nature of their condition, how their condition impacts them in a learning or living environment, and finally, provide supporting documentation for their statements. 

Accommodations offered include to-go boxes, call-ahead meals, and allergen-free meal options. The types of conditions that qualify for accommodations go beyond allergies and could include anxiety, eating disorders, and Crohn’s disease. To-go boxes may be indicated for specific mealtimes or sensory overload, while call-ahead meals can include allergen-free options or specialized meals with certain portion sizes. 

Students living with various allergies are able to email staff at any of the eight dining halls a few hours prior to their meal pickup time, telling them what they would like to eat. When the student is ready to pick up their meal, they can either have it in a to-go box or enjoy their meal at the dining hall. The dining staff prepares the student’s meal closer to when they said they would pick it up, so it’s as fresh as possible. The meal then goes into the warmer so students can enjoy a hot breakfast, lunch, or dinner. 

Chloe Goldberg ’29 (CLAS) is one of the students receiving support from the Center for Students with Disabilities and UConn Dining. She has celiac disease, and says that cross-contamination with gluten poses a large health risk. She usually eats at Gelfenbien Commons and emails the dining staff a few hours before lunch time and dinner time each day, and they prepare her meal request entirely gluten-free. Goldberg also occasionally eats at The Coop in the Student Union, where all menu items, such as the popular chicken tenders, are gluten free. 

She is grateful to Tartsinis, who showed her how to order her food in advance and pointed her to where she can find the gluten-free station that is located in each of the eight dining halls. 

As a first-year student, she says the support that both the Center for Students with Disabilities and UConn Dining offer students with various disabilities was the deciding factor in her decision to enroll at UConn. “It was the main reason I chose to come here,” Goldberg says.