Those of us returning to campus are seeing a lot of changes. Dining renovations, book shop location changes, and new food availability are all things we have to get used to.

One of the biggest changes, however, is the new meal plan system.

Last year, students were able to use meal swipes in the Marketplace, now known as the Star, the Blue & Grey Café, and Zime. No matter what the item or the price, swipes could be used. If an item cost more than $6, a combination of meal swipes and Dining Dollars could be used, or students could double swipe.

While this system was familiar to students last year and seemed to work out fairly well, this year it has been changed.  

Firstly, meal swipes can only be used in the Star and Clewell dining halls. When you are buying food outside of the dining halls, such as in DeLight’s Café or the Blue & Grey Café, swipes cannot be used anymore. Even if you order food that is not a name brand, which was the rule last year, it still must be bought with Dining Dollars.

Secondly, resident dining plans have been adjusted to meet the new dining rules on campus. The dining plans look as follows:

• Gold plan has unlimited meal swipes and $300 dining dollars
• Silver plan has 240 meal swipes and $300 dining dollars
• Bronze plan has 175 meal swipes and $300 dining dollars
• Commuter plans have been changed slightly depending on the tier that the student buys

If you have any questions about how to use your dining plan or how many Dining Dollars or swipes you have, contact Residence Life at [email protected].