Changes to meal plan proposed to enhance value perceptions

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Author: Drew Jaffe

Occidental students and administrators are taking action to combat students’ frustration with campus dining prices. The current proposal would subtract an initial maintenance fee from students’ meal plans but offer a 50 percent discount on all food items. Students would ultimately pay the same amount for a meal plan, but school officials believe the new plan would improve perceptions of the plan’s value.

“Many students don’t understand why they have to pay four dollars for a Naked juice on campus when they can buy one at a local store for two dollars,” Associate Vice President for Hospitality Services Amy Muñoz said.

Discontentment with high prices was reflected in a nationwide survey taken by Occidental students in the fall of 2010. The poll results showed that, while Occidental students were generally satisfied with overall food quality and service, they rated the value of their meal plans relatively low compared to students at other schools.

Data shows that even though Occidental’s meal plans are priced within the range of peer institutions such as the Claremont Colleges, Macalester and Carleton College, the perceived value of the meal plans – how much students think they are getting for their money – is lower at Occidental than at other institutions. To address this negative perception, Muñoz formed and headed a committee comprised of current students and faculty members.

The ensuing Meal Plan Advisory Committee was comprised of student leaders from various groups on campus, such as a Resident Adviser, Orientation Coordinator, Green Bean Manager, senator and interns from the Hospitality department.

“I was working as a summer Resident Adviser in the summer of 2011, and my boss Tim asked me to go to a committee meeting,” mathematics major Cynthia Haynes (senior), chosen for the committee because of her role as a Mentor Resident Adviser, said. “If I liked it, I could join. I found it very informative and intriguing.”

The committee also included faculty from Campus Dining, Student Life and Housing Services. Together with students they began their process by researching various meal plans during the summer and fall months of 2011.

“We all had to keep food journals to track what food we bought and how much we spent,” art history and visual arts double major Desmend Jetton said.

In order to gain a better idea of how students with different eating habits spend their meal plans, students outside the committee were also tasked with keeping food journals. Others in the group were also responsible for learning more about meal plans at other schools.

“I helped research peer institutions, particularly those with similar meal plan systems to Oxy’s, which only constitutes about 10 percent of all colleges in the country,” Haynes said.

Occidental uses a debit system for its meal plans, which provides students a debit account of money that can be spent on individual food items. The meal plan system common in other institutions is an all-you-can-eat system in which students have a set amount of meals they can purchase over the semester.

More specifically, however, Occidental uses what is called a Dollar for Dollar debit system. The proposal focused on changing the Dollar for Dollar system rather than the debit system itself. In such a system, the price of meals includes maintenance costs in addition to the price of the food itself.

“Only about 38 percent of the price you are paying accounts for the food itself,” Muñoz said. “The remainder of the price accounts for other costs such as salaries and benefits for the workers, supplies and services, as well as overhead and return. Thus, when students are charged, they not only pay for the food but for everything else required to run the Marketplace, Cooler and Green Bean, including the uniforms, disposable silverware and even utilities of the facility.”

Once everyone on the committee had a full understanding of the system, discussions began concerning how to modify the meal plans in order to improve price perception. By late 2011 to early 2012, the committee moved forward with a proposal for a new type of debit system known as Base Cost Reduction, which had been proven successful at other colleges and universities including Virginia Tech, Colorado College and Washington University in St. Louis.

According to committee member Hana Kaneshige (junior), in a Base Cost Reduction structure all the overhead and maintenance costs are taken out initially. While students are left with a smaller pot of money to spend, they also see a prices reduced by 50 percent. Muñoz likens it to paying dues at a club.

“You have to pay your dues to be a member of the club and to keep it running, but once you’ve paid, you get things at a discount,” Muñoz said.

These discounted shelf prices would only apply to those students on meal plans, however. Faculty and Off-Campus students using Flex points would not see a change from the five percent discount they currently receive.

The updated structure would allow students to better understand how their money is being spent and why it appears to cost so much. And according to Muñoz, even though students end up paying the same amount overall, reports from other schools show that complaints about price drop dramatically once a Base Cost Reduction system replaces a Dollar for Dollar system.

Members of the committee stress that this change will only be implemented – likely in Fall of 2013 if approved – if they receive a positive response from students.

“If a change won’t improve value perception, there is no reason to implement it,” Muñoz said.

A Frequented Asked Question page about the proposal is now up on the Campus Dining Website for those who are interested. The committee is holding an open meeting for students to ask questions on Friday, Mar. 1 from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. in the Salsbury/Young room, located in the Johnson Student Center.

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