After months of criticism from students across the University, Dining Services has announced modifications to their meal plan offerings, including a reduction to the number of meals freshmen are required to purchase.
The most significant change to the meal plans will be that, instead of being required to buy 17 meals per week, incoming freshmen are now only forced to buy 14 per week. They will also have the option of further reducing that number to 10 after their first semester.
"We're aiming to make the plan more flexible and more appealing," Vice President for Business Services Leroy Nunery said. "Clearly, we've heard the response from students."
That response from students was a highly negative one, with upperclassmen threatening to even abandon University dining altogether after the spring announcement that the Class of 2005 would be required to buy such a high number of meals.
The other significant change is, in fact, for upperclassmen. The Penn Flex 110 meal plan -- a declining plan that was previously open only to upperclassmen living on campus -- is now available to all upperclassmen, regardless of where they live.
"By the time you become an upperclassman, your needs change, you want more customization. We're trying to keep the program up to date with the demands that students are making," Nunery said.
Dining Services has been discussing the modifications with several advisory boards -- most notably the Undergraduate Assembly.
UA Chairman Dana Hork said the changes have come after a "consistent dialogue Dining Services had over the spring and summer with the UA."
"Campus Dining Services was extremely receptive to the concerns of the UA and the student body, and we're glad that students will have more dining options in the year ahead," Hork said.
"[The change] is a response to the kinds of conversations that have been ongoing with the advisory boards," Nunery agreed. "The fact is that we have 139 different dining options around the campus area. An institutional program has to change so it can stay competitive and appealing."
"We're aiming for more flexibility. There's been an ongoing conversation with both the Residential and Dining Advisory Boards, and we've received great feedback from them," he added.
In addition to the two main changes, several other modifications have been made to next year's dining offerings.
Stouffer Commons will close, but all three floors of 1920 Commons will be fully operational. Commons will now also offer Express Service for both breakfast and lunch -- a service previously only available in Hill College House and Stouffer Commons.
A new double-swipe feature will also allow students to both have a sit down meal, and then take an Express meal with them for later.
In addition to a "Classics" menu that will be serving "comfort food favorites", two new stations will be opening up in 1920 Commons for lunch and dinner.
"Salsa" will serve both vegetarian and carnivorous Mexican food comestibles, and "The Coop" will serve chicken -- any way you like it -- with a variety of sides, such as cornbread, macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes and coleslaw.
"It's part of the branding of the food experience -- more variety and more defined variety," Nunery said of the two new stands.
