Returning students to Ottawa University’s campus have most likely noticed a change in the way that the dining services work.
The meal plans have been changed, the meal transfers have been disbanded and there are new beverage machines in the renovated snack bar, among other things.
Sodexo General Manager, Christine Krin said there are advantages and disadvantages to the changes that have been made, and all changes were made to make things more efficient and help students.
“Our goal was to give students a better value and make things more convenient with added hours and flex dining dollars,” she said.
In the new meal plans, students will receive an increase in meals and flex dining dollars. The 19-meal plan did not have flex dollars previous years. That specific plan now has $50 in addition to the 19 meals.
The 14-meal plan is now 15 meals. It had $80 flex, and now has $100 flex. The nine-meal plan is also now 10 meals, and the $120 in flex has been elevated to $150.
Additionally, last years five-meal plan was set up so that a student would lose their leftover meals if they did not use them all in a week. Now, it is set up in a 100 block meal plan that gives a student 100 meals in a semester.
With that, the student will be able to eat more freely, and according to Krin, that gives an extra meal or two per week to students.
Times for the Mowbray Dining Commons have also changed slightly. Continental breakfast and simply-to-go meals in the morning last from 9 a.m. to 10:30 instead of nine to 10. Dinner during the week also lasts until 7:30 p.m. instead of 7 p.m.
With these new changes, there was a catch that students did not see coming.
“I don’t like (the new meal plan) because they took the meal transfers,” Junior Cory Carner said.
Sophomore Aaprara Mills also expressed disappointment in the loss of meal transfers.
“I don’t like it because if you don’t like the food they have in the cafeteria, you can’t go to the snack bar and get something,” Mills said. “They should have the snack bar open on the weekends if they’re extending hours.”
Krin said the burger meal exchange would be a downer for students, but in the end, it was about balancing out the larger number of students on campus.
“One of the reasons we’re doing that is because we have a growing number of people on campus,” she said. “We weren’t going to be able to accommodate the big crowds.”
Extra snack bar additions include the Roasterie coffeehouse drinks and the “Naked Juices,” which are called that because they don’t have extra additives.
Krin added that she has been working with Speech Instructor/Forensics Director Ryan Louis on bringing musical entertainment to the cafeteria in the latter parts of September.
“If students are interested (in being apart of the musical activities), they can contact either me or Ryan,” she said.
Krin also urges students to make sure they have the meal plan that they want, because changes can only be made until Sept. 7.