NC State Dining is introducing new meal plans and features to our program for the 2017-2018 academic year. The changes are designed to provide more flexibility and value to our students.
“Our Freedom Pass plan has been our most popular meal plan, so we decided to build on its foundation to create options that have broad appeal depending on the level of coverage a student desires,” said Randy Lait, senior director for hospitality services. “We’ve also added new features that make them even more flexible, such as more meal credits, two lunchtime meal periods per day and guest meals. The new plans have been received positively by student leaders, so we feel confident our students will be very excited, too.”
Three new meal plans – called Anytime Plans – feature all day dining hall access, meal credits and guest passes that can be used in the dining halls and include 100 dining dollars:
Weekday Plan | all-day dining hall access and 8 meal credits to be used Monday – Friday each week, plus 100 Dining Dollars and 3 guest meals per semester
Everyday Plan | all-day dining hall access and 12 meal credits each week, plus 100 Dining Dollars and 5 guest meals per semester
Deluxe Plan | all-day dining hall access and 15 meal credits each week, plus 100 Dining Dollars and 8 guest meals per semester
For students who desire fewer meals, NC State Dining will offer one meals-per semester plan:
Block Plan | 150 meals per semester, includes $100 Dining Dollars
Commuters and students living in on-campus apartments or Fraternity/Sorority Housing will still be able to purchase the Commuter/Apartment plan:
Commuter/Apartment Plan | $750 Dining Dollars per semester; 5% discount at the register.
Lait added, “Students will now have the option of an early lunch or late lunch meal period. Instead of only being able to swipe once for lunch, students can now swipe once between 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., then again between 1:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. This will bring the number of meal periods each week to 35, providing many more opportunities to use meal credits.”
Students will also be able to use a meal credit to purchase Howling Cow ice cream in Talley Market.
The changes are in response to customer satisfaction surveys, social media, and feedback from students. The new features eliminate many of the “use it or lose it” aspects of the old plans and lost meal credits due to the longer lunch meal period. It will also provide more opportunities for students to use the dining halls not only as a place to eat, but a place to gather more freely with more students having all day access built into their plan.
Students will be able to sign up for the new meal plans beginning March 13.
“As one of the leading college dining experiences, we are committed to meeting the needs of the students we serve,” added Lait.
NC State Dining is a service of Campus Enterprises, the lead division for retail and hospitality on the NC State University campus. For more information, contact Jennifer Gilmore at 919.513.3017 or via email at jhgilmor@ncsu.edu.