Unlike most rumors, the one relating to the increase in dining points is true. During a management planning meeting in early July, Swarthmore’s Dining Services decided that the meal plan was due for a change.
“We looked at our budget and decided an addition was in line, as we do every few years,” said Dining Services Director Linda McDougall.
Along with the extra 20 dining points being added to every meal plan that includes points, the change entitles students to 3 guest meals per semester. As has been the case in past years, unused points will not roll-over from semester to semester, and the same will hold true for guest.
According to McDougall, the intention of the guest meals is for “when you have family or friends visiting campus”. They can be used by alerting the checker.
With the exception of students who are off-campus and want fewer meals, Swatties pay a flat fee each semester for any meal plan. The fee this year is $3,085, the same as last year, only this year students can choose between 14 meals and 170 points, 17 meals and 100 points or 20 meals and no points. That means an extra 20 points for points-based plans and no change for the 20 meal plan. According to Executive Assistant for Facilities and Services Paula Dale, there are currently 1,388 students on the meal plan. This means that the college receives over 8.5 million dollars annually for dining services.
The budget for Dining Services is furnished entirely by student payments. It is managed by the college administration and approved annually by the Board of Managers. The Dining Services management team, which consists of eight managers, meets regularly to discuss the current budget and to look for ways to reduce costs and increase quality, Dale said. At the end of the year, the team also meets to plan the budget proposal for the upcoming academic year.
Dining Services received an increase in their allotted funds this year to cover the price increases they are receiving across the board from their vendors.
“[There have been] increased costs for food at the grocery store and fuel at the gas pumps,” said Dale. “[They] affect a large portion of our budget, and this year’s budget increased to help offset those.”
The budget not only covers the cost of food, but also supports overhead expenses, like “the facilities in which the meals are prepared and served, and staff salaries and benefits,” according to Dale. This is one of the reasons that a meal equivalency at Essie Mae’s, the snack bar on campus, is disproportionate to the cost of paying for a meal at Sharples as a college visitor. A meal at Essie Mae’s is $4.60, while at Sharples it is $10.
“The meal equivalency for Essie Mae’s is based on the direct cost of serving a similar meal at Sharples,” said Dale. “For non-College folks who walk in the door at Sharples, we charge $10 to cover the cost of their meal plus a little more to help defray the cost for students.”
The size of the stipend paid by students is what mainly determines the size of the budget. When students pay for a meal plan, they are given credit for 14, 17 or 20 meals (plus the corresponding amount of points) in return. In other schools, like the University of Maryland, the money paid merely goes into a sort of debit card, dedicated solely to the purchase of food. Because the school gives students money and not credits for meals, on-campus (or nearby) restaurants accept their dining cards as well.
At Swarthmore, for a snack bar or coffee bar to accept points or meals, it must be included in the budget for Dining Services. According to Treasure Tinsley ’15, co-director of Paces Café, this is the reason why Paces can neither accept meals nor points. The student-run café is separate from Dining Services and depends on other money the administration provides. Because points work as credit to be used within Dining Services’ facilities, if points were used at the café, Dining Services would be losing credit that was originally allocated to their budget and consequent expenditures.
