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Two Meal Plan Options, Two Experiences
The type of meal plans offered in a residence dining facility impacts the way our students engage and learn. An all-you-care-to-eat (AYCTE) plan encourages risk-taking and facilitates a shared dining experience. You enter a dining room and feel the freedom to choose anything, regardless of cost, value or portion size. AYCTE plans do not allow for grab-and-go or take out options, so students are forced to sit down and hit pause on their busy schedule. On the contrary, a declining balance or flex dollar plan allows for socialization between those eating and those who are not, allows for more residence life programming to happen in the dining space, and encourages guests and friends in the dining space. It also assists with the learning for students of the realities of fiscal implications of healthy and responsible eating. So which is better?
The Student Perspective
Today’s students (and their parents) have high expectations of post-secondary institutions. Parents have been largely involved in the lives of their students and expect the institution will take a similar approach to caring for their student. Residences should feel like home; like a place where the student belongs and where they are surrounded by people who care. Food and the dining experience plays an integral part in that sense of belonging and community. Food isn’t just a source of fuel; it makes us feel. We feel comfort, feel a connection, and feel full (both figuratively and literally). The expectation of residence dining is high-look at any Skyfactor or benchmarking results. Students want diverse and high-quality options, they want their dining to be a unique, memorable, and instagramable experience, and, most importantly, they want to see value for the money spent on their meal plan. Students don’t want to compare the dollars spent in a dining room to those they would pay at a restaurant because they’re not eating at a restaurant; they’re eating at home.
At home, one can help themselves to second helpings, and anything in the fridge is usually free for the taking. So, when one leaves home and has to pay for every single item on their plate, a student feels robbed. The perception of value is low. Students love the idea of the AYCTE plan because it feels like they’re getting more. You pay your fees, and you eat what you like. Whether one eats more or less than they would have on a declining balance plan is irrelevant: the removal of the transaction at till and the freedom of unlimited choice suggests value. It feels like home; you can take what you like and can always grab seconds.
That said, at home, you can also invite a friend over for a snack without incurring additional costs. At home, you can sit in the kitchen with a bowl of ice cream without feeling like you’re wasting a meal because you didn’t get anything else. These factors seem to matter less to students though as they can find this kind of experience elsewhere. With a plethora of coffee shops and cafes, the need for a dining room to provide a more intimate and casual experience seems irrelevant to students.
Institutional Perspective
We know that the population of students living on their own for the first time may struggle to make friends and will have a time when their mental health is not optimal. As residence life professionals, we want to have eyes on our students. We want to see them frequently and have intentional (yet casual) conversations. We want to create the path of least resistance for community engagement. In theory, a declining balance meal plan allows for a more integrated dining experience because everyone is welcome. Students, staff, faculty, friends, study groups, and family could all dine together and share a culinary experience or meet over a coffee. As Loriann McGowan, Assistant Director of Residence Dining at the University of British Columbia says, “The dining room is the core of a residence community: it provides connection and brings people together.”
Student success and health is always at the forefront of decision-making at a post-secondary institution. That said, it’s not the only factor considered. The institutional perspective also needs to consider financial implications and the impacts on institutional missions and mandates. As mentioned, the AYCTE model may seem to provide more value to students, but it comes with consequences related to food waste and limited access to dining spaces. A declining balance gives an institution the opportunity to teach more about food and financial literacy and invites more community members to add support and spend money.
Mustafa Nalwala works at the University of Toronto and has experience running dining rooms with three different kinds of meal plans. Nalwala suggests that offering meal plans with a set number of meals may be the answer to providing the flexibility students want with the choice to eat in a dining room. “This works well for students who might have a lesser appetite or have various dietary restrictions and prefer to eat breakfast in their room, for example. Also, these meal plans are often more budget-friendly than their AYCTE counterparts. However, students now have to budget their ‘meal swipes’ per week, often at the risk of losing out on social interactions that students on an AYCTE meal plan may have had.”
Pleasing Your Stakeholders
All of the options for residence dining have their pros and cons. Nalwala says meal plans “can be encouraging for students to take chances with food, try new things, and expand their minds in other ways.” The real factor impacting community building in our dining rooms is the competition for time and attention. Would students still dine in your facility if you required students to check their cell phone at the door when they arrive? What if students were given bonus meal plan credits for leaving their cell phone at the door? Would BOGO options make a difference and entice students to eat with a friend?
The institutional administration, moreover residence dining teams, are in a tight spot. What’s best for community development and perceived value may not be the best value for the bottom line and vice versa. On top of that, you need to create a space that is welcoming and feels like home for your community members. It’s not an easy task to find a system that will please all stakeholders, and undoubtedly the answer cannot be found in our blog post! Come back and read our next post where we discuss the connection between community building and residence dining in more depth.
Thanks for being part of our community. We’re glad you’re here.
