Incoming NC State students will have more options to choose from for dining with the addition of Smoothie U at the Atrium, Starbucks in Talley Student Union and the upcoming 1887 Bistro, which will be open in Talley Student Union this fall. With a meal plan, students have the option of choosing between using a meal credit or dining dollars to eat at any location on campus, from dining halls to restaurants and cafes.
According to Jennifer Gilmore, director of marketing and communication for Campus Enterprises, currently about two-thirds of the projected meal plan participants have chosen a plan. Last year, more than 9,300 students on campus carried a meal plan with more than 40 percent of meal plan holders each year choosing the Freedom Pass plan.
Gilmore attributes the popularity of the Freedom Pass to the associated value of the plan.
“Usually the more meals you buy, the more value is in each meal, and so you are actually paying less per meal the more meals you buy,” Gilmore said. “If a student lives on campus, I recommend that they try [the Freedom Pass] plan first, especially if they need to maximize their food dollars. The freedom pass plan enables them to frequent the dining hall as often as they like in addition to going to the restaurants 10 times per week using their meal credits. The secret to making the freedom pass plan work is by using the dining halls as much as possible.”
For Kendall Wiggins, a sophomore studying biomedical engineering, the Freedom Plan for her freshman year was mainly about efficiency. She recommends Clark Dining Hall for brunch on weekends.
“I got the Freedom Plan mainly to avoid worrying about counting weekly meals or running out of meals before the semester ends,” said Wiggins.
On the other hand, Neelam Modi, a sophomore studying biomedical engineering, decided that the Freedom Pass was not for her after freshman year.
“I had the unlimited for first semester of freshman year and then 12 meals per week with $300 dining dollars for second semester and I’m sticking to that,” Modi said. “It helps me keep track of how much I eat; it costs less, and dining dollars roll over, so even though I don’t use them all, I get them back. Besides, I lost interest in dining hall food so I don’t feel like I’m missing much!”
Other meal plan options include the 14, 12 or 10 meals-per-week plan, or the 130 or 180 meals-per-semester plans. If a student has extra meal credits at the end of a meal period, the meals don’t carry over to the next period. Currently, there are 516 students on the 14-meals-per-week plan, 604 on the 12-meals-per-week plan and 474 on the 10-meals-per-week plan. The plans for 130 meals per semester have 855 students while the plan for 180 meals per semester have 268 students. In addition, there are 1,117 students signed up for the commuter meal plan.
“We have provided a variety of meal plan options that at first can seem a little overwhelming, but usually after students get here and start using their plan they are glad because they are able to put together a combination that works best for them,” Gilmore said.
Sonia Su, a sophomore studying food science, found that the meal plan with the least amount of meals worked best for her. Freshman year, she chose 120 meals per semester, which has now been increased to 130 meals per semester.
“I never had an interest in the dining hall food, whether it was too bland or just not my taste,” Su said. “For the most part, breakfasts and brunches were my favorite. I mostly just stuck with Talley and the Atrium — it helped me control how much I was eating, and surprisingly I had a lot of meals left at the end of both semesters. And in the Atrium I always went over, so I could take a snack with me for later. Plus a lot of times I was too lazy to leave my dorm on the weekends and just ate mac and cheese in my dorm.”
Gilmore noted that there has been a major increase in meal plan holders during the past several years, a trend she attributes to the improvements made on dining regarding options and food quality.
“We were just named ‘Innovator of the Year’ by Food Management Magazine and have been nationally recognized for our work to provide healthy options and transparent nutritional information to our students,” Gilmore said. “We were the first university to complete the requirements for the Partnership for a Healthier America’s Healthy College Edition, and we were just named Udi’s #4 Gluten Friendly College.”
Gilmore also compared the quality of meal plans to peer institutions such as UNC-Chapel Hill.
“Check out UNC-CH’s ‘unlimited plan’ compared to ours,” Gilmore said. “It’s $2,112 per semester versus our $1,750 per semester, and there you can only eat in the dining halls.”
For any freshman who still needs help deciding on a plan, Gilmore encourages them to visit the Wolfpack One Card office in Talley Student Union.
“They are really good at explaining how things work and helping maximize your plan based on eating habits,” Gilmore said.
In addition, if someone were to accidently use dining dollars instead of a meal swipe, the staff at the Wolfpack One Card office is able to correct it.
Final changes on the fall meal plan must be made by Sept. 30. Students can change it on the University Dining website or at the West Dunn Building.
Overall, Gilmore encourages students applying for meal plans to budget ahead of time and make good choices when it comes to meals.
“If you have ever had to cook for yourself, you find very quickly that it is not easy to prepare well-balanced meals every day,” Gilmore said. “Having a meal plan ensures that you are making nutrition a priority in your budget.”
For more information, visit www.ncsudining.com, and for tips on how to budget your meal plan, refer to the dining blog on the website.
