Are you getting what you pay for in meal plans?
Alan Larsen
Issue date: 12/1/09 Section: Campus News
Every student at Embry-Riddle is eligible to purchase a meal plan option each semester. Freshmen as we know, are required to purchase the "757 Express" (14 meals per week) or any higher value meal plan.
On-Campus we have a large selection of locations to choose from: The Student Center Food Court, The Student Village Cafe, Einstein's, The Landing Strip, Chick-fil-a, Starbucks, and the famous Propellers Restaurant. Each location offers Meal Plan Equivalency, meaning they offer a menu of which you can select from, and pay with your meal points.
This semester brought about changes in the meal plan equivalency options, leaving many students to wonder, "Am I getting enough value for my meal plan?"
The answer is, if you spend around $6.19 on each meal plan purchase, then Yes you are. All meals vary by price and offering, however the average meal cost is established at $6.19.
To ensure that this is the case, our SGA has been collecting receipts of meal plan purchases. With those receipts, they can determine whether or not students are receiving a value close to the average price. It is understood that not all options meet that average price, my favorite example of this is a pastry and drink at Einstein's. However there are other options out there. I find that if I have left over meal points at the end of the week, I'll get that muffin because personally I do enjoy them with a cup of coffee.
In an effort to meet the culinary needs of everybody on campus, the Dining Services Advisory Board was established. This board was created by Sodexo's Director of Operations, Mr. Robert Mackay and by our SGA President, Bryan Dietz. The board is chaired by many university organizations representing both students and faculty. On November 16th, they had their first meeting to discuss issues such as equivalency and feedback from students and faculty.
Our SGA has been advocating student feedback to Dining Services long before the advisory board was established. Earlier this semester it was asked by students to have a healthier drink option at the Student Center Food Court. Our SGA talked with Sodexo about it and on November 4th, juice was made available to students as part of a meal plan. This addition was made possible by switching from Minute Maid products to Pepsi
On-Campus we have a large selection of locations to choose from: The Student Center Food Court, The Student Village Cafe, Einstein's, The Landing Strip, Chick-fil-a, Starbucks, and the famous Propellers Restaurant. Each location offers Meal Plan Equivalency, meaning they offer a menu of which you can select from, and pay with your meal points.
This semester brought about changes in the meal plan equivalency options, leaving many students to wonder, "Am I getting enough value for my meal plan?"
The answer is, if you spend around $6.19 on each meal plan purchase, then Yes you are. All meals vary by price and offering, however the average meal cost is established at $6.19.
To ensure that this is the case, our SGA has been collecting receipts of meal plan purchases. With those receipts, they can determine whether or not students are receiving a value close to the average price. It is understood that not all options meet that average price, my favorite example of this is a pastry and drink at Einstein's. However there are other options out there. I find that if I have left over meal points at the end of the week, I'll get that muffin because personally I do enjoy them with a cup of coffee.
In an effort to meet the culinary needs of everybody on campus, the Dining Services Advisory Board was established. This board was created by Sodexo's Director of Operations, Mr. Robert Mackay and by our SGA President, Bryan Dietz. The board is chaired by many university organizations representing both students and faculty. On November 16th, they had their first meeting to discuss issues such as equivalency and feedback from students and faculty.
Our SGA has been advocating student feedback to Dining Services long before the advisory board was established. Earlier this semester it was asked by students to have a healthier drink option at the Student Center Food Court. Our SGA talked with Sodexo about it and on November 4th, juice was made available to students as part of a meal plan. This addition was made possible by switching from Minute Maid products to Pepsi
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