Building renovations might not be the only changes students see in dining halls on campus next year.
Dining and Auxiliary Services recently decided to streamline meal plan options, including eliminating the Super 14 and Super 20 meal plans and not offering the 10-Meal Plan to incoming freshmen next year.
In addition to 14 or 20 meals per week, the Super 14 and Super 20 meal plans allow students to use meals on guests or at markets. Were these plans eliminated, students would be offered the Flex 14 meal plan and a new Flex 20 would be created.
The Flex 14 plan is an upgrade from the Super 14. While it can still be used in dining halls, grab-and-go and markets, the plan also includes 100 points, which can be used at Café BiblioTech, West 89, Latitude 39, the Front Room, dining halls and grab-and-go.
Students with points are also offered an up-front 10 percent discount when used. Students pay $90 to upgrade from the Super 14 ($1,544 per quarter) to the Flex 14 ($1,634), but they receive 100 points for other campus dining opportunities.
This year only 398 students use the Flex 14 plan, a figure Dining Services director Rich Neumann speculates is because many students didn't know it was an option.
The 10-Meal plan is the cheapest of the weekly meal plans, priced at $1,102 per quarter. According to the Dining Services Web page, the plan is for light eaters and students who travel home every weekend.
Recent figures show that the 10-Meal Plan is the third most popular on campus, attracting 1,206 diners. This accounts for a little more than 15 percent of students who have meal plans and is only behind the Super 14 (44.6 percent) and the 14-Meal Plan (18.4 percent).
Phasing out the 10-Meal Plan is intended to create a sense of community, Neumann said.
When you look at most universities
the minimum they offer is 14 meals he said. We're trying to bring the students together in the dining halls and if they're only eating 10 meals a week on campus
that can't happen quite as well.
Still, some students genuinely aren't interested in dining outside the dining halls.
[Eliminating the Super 14] is a shame
said Jack Gould, a freshman. I like the markets
but I never go to Baker. I'll have to drop down to the regular 14.
Obviously if we added the Flex 20 we would have to take a look at how to price it since we don't have that plan available right now
Neumann said.
Housing and dining rates for the 2009-2010 academic year will not be finalized until Auxiliary Services has its annual meeting late spring quarter.
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Adam Liebendorfer
