Dining & Culinary Services has had a very exciting Fall Term in the new state of the art kitchen and servery of the University Center. We have been actively listening to the many favorable and unfavorable comments from students, parents, faculty and staff. There have been quite a few fine-tuning changes that include price reductions and menu modifications. We have also made several big picture changes that have involved some additional forecasting and planning:
· An Early Bird Breakfast was added on Saturday mornings, we open at 8:30am instead of 10:30am and serve hot breakfast at a fixed price of $5.49
· A Meals Away option has been added for students who are unable to make it to any of the all-you-care-to-eat meal periods. There is an online order system on the Dining & Culinary Services website – there is no additional charge for this service
· Supper Hour has been added Monday-Friday from 7:30pm-8:30pm, an hour extension where soup, salad, cereal and beverages are served for those students who have commitments that may run later than the normal 7:30pm closing time
We’ve been working with concerned parents to see where and how students can maximize their meal plan. Here are a few tips to pass along to your student to help them make the most of their Fresh Fantastic dining experience:
· Budget – use our
weekly chart to manage and budget your account from week 1 of the semester.
· Request your Dining Dollars balance on a regular basis. You can have your balance printed out at any campus restaurant cashier station.
· Attend the all-you-care-to-eat meals. The best way to get the most from your meal plan is to avoid spending Dining Dollars when you can attend one of these meals. On Sunday, you could get breakfast at 9:30am and then come back at 1:00pm to grab lunch…all in the same all-you-care-to-eat period!
· Request a Meal Away if you know in advance you will be unable to attend an all-you-care-to eat meal. Request one online and pick it up before the meal you have to miss. This is a great tool to minimize unnecessary Dining Dollar spending.
In October a professional from Momentum Nutrition & Fitness provided assistance to help students make nutritionally sound choices on a budget, reviewed current food selections on appropriateness for students on a budget and developed educational materials so that PLU can assist students in making the cost effective choices while maintaining a high level of nutrition. You can view handouts
here.
As we move into J-Term and Spring, you and your student will be choosing a meal plan to get them through the remainder of the year. Please visit our
website to view the basic descriptions and dollar amounts of the meal plans. Remember that any Dining Dollars left after Fall Term will rollover to the next semester and expire on May 24, 2008.
