Dining Services has implemented changes to the latest meal plan in order to provide better options for students. These include a new policy on combinations, posting prices for items in the Heritage Market and Paws N’ Go, reducing what some consider the “misleading” marketing of 50 percent off food and posting the correct hours of operation of the 1899 Dining Hall on the entrance.

When the dining plan switched from the block system to points, many students felt that they were not getting as much bang for their buck, or in this case, point.

At a town hall meeting that took place Sept. 16, sophomore psychology major Stacey Velasquez said: “I just don’t think it’s fair that we went from having to pay $7 for a meal, two sides and a drink to now having everything separate and more expensive. If you want a burrito, a drink and chips you have to pay at least $10 for it.”

Many students at the gathering were frustrated by prices that seemed to rise when the meals were broken into smaller units. Dining Services heard their complaints and allowed students to get a side and drink for $2.25.

However, students such as sophomore biology major Morgan Hage, a dining worker, are still not satisfied and wish that the meal plan would go back to the block system.

“I think the new plan is a ripoff. The amount of food you get now is not worth the price. I know some students last year, especially girls, who didn’t eat a lot, so they were wasting meals, but I am an athlete and because of that, I eat more,” Hage said. “I would rather have a few girls get too much food than waste my money while feeling like I am not getting enough.”

While meal pricing was revisited, the prices of food and drink in the Paws N’ Go were posted so that students know exactly how much they are paying.

According to James Nasipak, director of university services, he feels as if last semester’s town hall meeting produced significant suggestions in order to reform the meal plan.

“I thought our town hall meeting went really well. We went back and reevaluated our pricing, and did some changes to our pricing and reevaluated some combo deals,” Nasipak said. “We talked a little bit during the break about some of the things we could do. We didn’t change a lot because we don’t have much time between the time students leave and the time they come back, but at the end of the school year, in the spring, we will reevaluate the program again.”

According to senior communication studies major and dining service worker A.J. Anderson, people who are not on APU’s meal plan react negatively to the prices posted because they don’t get the 50 percent off.

“Working here, I see a lot of people come in without dining points, and they are surprised at the high prices they see, which is difficult because I am somebody who doesn’t have a meal plan,” Anderson said. “I see the benefit in the flexibility of dining points, but I also see the more cost-effective nature of the meal plan.”

Anderson added that even though there are some pricey markups, there are also cheaper, more affordable options like chips or protein bars.

The new meal plan also garnered attention for the “misleading” marketing of getting 50 percent off your purchase if you buy the school’s dining point plan. Signs were posted in Heritage Court advertising that one point was worth $2. After calculations, each point costs about $2, with no apparent gain. For example, the “We Have Got you Covered Plan” includes 881 points per semester, and the per semester cost is $1,695.

“What was used initially in that 50 percent was not used to pull something over the students’ heads,” Nasipak said. “We were just trying to provide a way in which you could understand how much a point was worth. Now we found out that that didn’t work, so we had to reevaluate it.”

Freshman communication studies major Hannah Hall said: “I thought this ’50 percent off’ was very deceptive because I thought I would actually be getting half off my meals and saving money. After going over the financials, I realized that this was not the case.”

Since the town hall meeting, APU has taken down the “50 percent off” signs that were advertising the meal plan at the beginning of the fall 2014 semester.

Dining Services also corrected an error that made a big difference to the 1899 Dining Hall workers by posting the correct hours on the doors.

According to the APU website, Dining Services prides itself on trying to make a better environment for its customers and workers. Their mission statement reads: “Dining Services is to provide a full line of exemplary services for the Azusa Pacific University community in a God-honoring way. We purpose to serve in a positive and cheerful atmosphere to maintain responsive stewardship and to enhance the quality and excellence of the Azusa Pacific University experience.”