Abuse of student account privileges forces bookstore to change policy
Cash strapped students used to be able to use the Central Michigan University Bookstore to charge entertainment expenses to their university accounts.
By purchasing gift cards available at the bookstore through their CMU accounts, students accumulated large sums for products ranging from Amazon and iTunes to Southwest Airlines tickets.
It wasn’t until $45,000 was charged to student accounts in 2014, that bookstore officials decided to discontinue the service. Students charging inordinate amounts to their accounts for gift cards will have to pay back their balance only a year after the service was introduced.
Barry Waters, director of the CMU Bookstore, was troubled by the substantial charges to student accounts for gift card sales. Students were able to charge such significant amounts to their accounts for things other than books, spiritwear or other typical bookstore purchases because items purchased are not specified on account statements.
“You could buy a $500 Amazon gift card, and it shows up on the account as ‘bookstore,’ not ‘gift card,’” Waters said.
In the 12 months that gift cards were available for purchase through student accounts, the charges came to a total of $44,489.98. About $31,000 was charged to stores and restaurants that serve alcohol.
“We’ve had to stop. Some of the charges haven’t even been paid,” Waters said. “The reports were startling. I was concerned students were abusing the privilege to buy things that were not intended to be bought.”
Thousands of dollars were being charged for gift cards to establishments that sell alcohol or tobacco, like Buffalo Wild Wings or local gas stations.
“We’ve discontinued the ability to purchase gift cards using student accounts with the exception of iTunes gift cards,” Waters said.
One such account which was referred to CMU’s collections was that of a student who used his account to buy five Southwest Airlines gift cards, which he promptly put to use after dropping out of the university.
Waters says he is unsure whether the bookstore will continue to offer cash-only gift cards this semester.
“We’ll take another look in May and weigh the situation,” Waters said. “After that, we might be done offering gift cards forever.”
Parents who called the bookstore to inquire about charges were denied financial information because of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, which mandates that unless a student gives permission, the university cannot reveal details of a student’s finances, such as the specifics of charges to student accounts.
“We’ve had parents call about some extreme charges,” Waters said. “We have to refer them to the Student Services Court. We are not allowed to disclose the nature of those charges unless the student has given their parents access to the account.”
Gift cards may still be purchased with cash.
