Dining Services hosted a town hall meeting Tuesday, Sept.16 to address the issues that students have with the new dining plan. The meeting was led by Director of University Services James Nasipak and with the assistance of Dining Services officials, who were available to answer specific questions.
“Over the past two years we have done study groups and surveys, and a lot of the input that we’ve received back from students has been the need for more options and more flexibility in the dining plan,” Nasipak said.
Last year the meal plans were on a block system, giving a certain number to be used by students for the semester. All freshmen living in the dorms were required to purchase the 180-meal block option, giving them that many to use per semester.
This year the meal plans are on a point system. Students who choose to purchase a meal plan get a certain number of points to be used during the semester. Freshmen this year are required to be on either the “No Worries” plan, which comes with 1,157 points, or the “We’ve Got You Covered” plan, which comes with 881.
Students not on a plan must pay the full retail price listed on menus as opposed to students on the dining plan. Students who opt for the plan obtain a 50 percent discount since the new dining system calls for 2 dining points as the equivalent of 1 dollar.
A junior, who wished to remain anonymous, planned to get a meal plan because of the “50 percent off” deal, but upon further review decided to stick to groceries.
“It looks like an awesome meal deal at first, but when you do the math, the discount is not even close to 50 percent off. It bothers me that the meal plans falsely advertise that. It’s not beneficial for us,” said the junior student.
This issue was addressed during the Q&A; part of the town hall. Students felt like Dining Services “misled” students with the “discount” because they are still paying the same price with points as they are with actual money.
Another main concern that students had was getting the most value out of their dining plan. Sophomore psychology major Stacey Velasquez prefers the system last year because she could get more with only using one meal.
“I just don’t think it’s fair that we went from having to pay $7 for a meal, two sides and a drink. Now everything is separate. If you want a burrito, a drink and chips you have to pay at least $10 for it,” Velasquez said.
Students at the meeting suggested to Nasipak and Dining Services officials to bring back the bundle that they got last year so that undergrads can get a better deal.
If the meal plan doesn’t work, then toward the end of the school year, Executive Director of Dining Services Samuel Samaan said that officials will see how they can improve.
“Obviously, if it isn’t working out, then we have to go back and see what we can do better. It won’t be an overnight fix, but we will be working hard to improve,” Samaan said.