Western students will no longer be limited to selecting from international, classic, vegetarian, pizza and grill menu themes when dining on campus.

Starting fall quarter, Western’s dining hall services will provide new meal plans, longer dining hall and market hours, and different menus to give students a wider variety in their diets, said Ira Simon, director of University Dining Services.  

Four new meal plans will replace the current six. Simon said he hopes the new plans will make students feel they are getting a greater value for their money.

In January 2008, 3,454 Western students had a meal plan, said Kurt Willis, associate director of University Residences' business information systems.

Because of limited meal times, few opportunities to eat outside of the dining halls and the types of food offered on campus, the current dining structures are not meeting student satisfaction, Simon said.

“The issue of uneaten meals was really big,” Willis said. “Half of the meals [included in a student’s chosen meal plan] are not being eaten.”

With the exception of the unlimited meal plan, the other three plans will follow a “block plan” system.  With a block plan, Western students can pay for a set number of meals each quarter. Similar to 15-and 10-meal plans, one meal is docked from a student’s Western card every time he or she eats at a dining hall.

All of the plans may be used at breakfast, lunch or dinner.  The current meal plans offer different amounts of Flex Points. However, the new meal plans offers $150 in Dining Dollars, formally known as Flex Points, per quarter.

“That’s a sandwich and a drink [bought at a market] per week or five coffees in a week,” Simon said.

The name Flex Points will be changed to Dining Dollars to avoid being confused with Munch Money, said Sam Travis, Residence Hall Association treasurer. Dining Dollars is money that can be deducted from a meal plan and Munch Money is what can be continually added on a card.

If all $150 Dining Dollars are not used in one quarter, the money can roll over to the next quarter and continue until the end of the school year.

The Viking Union Market will be replacing its current grill and wrap station with a Mediterranean grill and a new vendor called Chick-fil-A this summer.

As student lifestyles and environments change, so do their taste preferences, Simon said.  Western is hoping to accommodate these changes, he said.

“Just the smell of the Mediterranean grill will go over big,” Willis said.

Pitas, gyros, hummus, and vegetables will provide healthy Mediterranean options for both meat-eaters and vegetarians, Simon said.

“It’s very Greek and Moroccan inspired,” Willis said.  “We even went to Pita Pit to get ideas on what student items were popular to use at the grill.”

Chick-fil-A, which has the top retail gross on 165 college campuses, offers high quality and quickly-served chicken items, Simon said.

Western’s Chick-fil-A will offer items such as chicken burgers, chicken strips, waffle fries and lemonade.

Western’s campus will be the first location in the state and Pacific Northwest to offer a Chick-fil-A.

“Find someone who knows this brand and get their reaction,” Simon said.  “When you tell them you’re bringing Chick-fil-A, they say ‘Yahoo!’”

Students will also be able to use their Dining Dollars at these new vendor locations later hours in the day.

Markets and dining halls will have later hours of operation; hours have yet to be determined.

“Students shouldn’t have to feel like they can only eat in the dining halls,” Willis said.  “They need to have variety.”

The goal behind the new meal plans and vendors is to increase the variety in meal options, quality of food and percentage in the number of meals eaten out of an individual’s meal plan, Simon said.

“The Dining Committee needs to continue to look at everything you do and how to make it better,” Simon said.  “[Dining Services] needs to exceed expectations of students."  

Simon said students’ survey responses and low attendance records last spring showed him that the dining halls were not meeting a students’ expectations.  He proposed a new meal plan structure but the Dining Committee felt it needed more student input and representation.

Nine voluntary student members from the Associated Students and Residence Hall Association created a committee called the Meal Plan Task Force, which was designed to research new meal plan options and represent student ideas and concerns about dining on campus.

The task force researched likes and dislikes of dining hall services, surveying students at dining hall entries, dorm hall council meetings and through e-mail.

Students are looking for variety when they eat their meals, what they eat and the location of their meals, Travis said.

The meal Plan Task Force conducted a nation-wide research of meal plans on other college campuses last summer.  

The task force compiled feedback from Western students and research from outside campuses to decide the best meal plans and meal accommodations for Western students, Willis said.

After several presentations, the Task Force presented its proposal to the Board of Trustees and the proposal passed. 

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