Meal plan policy scheduled to change next fall
More stories from Baily Turner
Students using their meal plans to pay for their meals at the Memorial Student Center cafeteria, February 10, 2016.
The Marshall University Housing and Residence Life office is undergoing changes in meal plan policies for the fall 2016 semester.
Currently, students are offered an unlimited meal plan, 15 meals per week, or 10 meals per week with a choice of flex dollars.
The new policy will change the on-campus meal options available to students.
“We’re going to keep the unlimited, go to some block plans and do away with the 10 and 15 meals per week,” said Sybil Lockard, assignments supervisor for Housing and Residence Life.
The Housing and Residence Life office is planning to offer students meal plans with more flex dollars instead of meal plan swipes.
The change will no longer permit students to use their meal plans in the Memorial Student Center or any on-campus facilities other than the dining halls.
“When we go to the different meal plans, students won’t actually have the option of using a meal swipe at the student center,” Lockard said. “Instead, they will have a larger amount of flex dollars to choose from with the block plans.”
Although the meal plans will no longer be exchangeable at the Memorial Student Center, some faculty believe the change will be financially beneficial to students.
“Flex is a lot more straight forward and easier to keep up with,” said Bob Dorado, Marshall campus ID manager. “In some ways more flex is more fair than the value that comes with the meal plans.”
Some Marshall students have a different perspective on the changing meal plans.
“By making us pay for meals and more flex, we have to give more money that a lot of us don’t have,” said Tory Lanman, a junior business economics major. “I just know that if we’re paying for meal plans, we should be able to use them as we please.”
The prices for the fall 2016 meal plans have not been configured yet but they are in the making.
“The Board of Governors have to vote on the new meal plans at the same time they vote on tuition for next year, so we won’t have the new meal plan prices until later this year,” Dorado said.
Baily Turner can be contacted at [email protected].
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