By Emily Derikito
University Dining Services is closing in on three years since it announced it would switch from block system-based meal plans in favor of the current program.
According to Dave Isaacs, manager of communication and media relations for the Office of Student Life, this transition was the result of student suggestions.
“We especially took into consideration the viewpoint of students who have direct current experience with meal plans,” Isaacs stated in an email.
Student organizations involved in the process included the Residence Hall Advisory Council, Resident Advisors, and Undergraduate Student Government.
Now, Ohio State offers six different meal plan options: Unlimited, Scarlet 14, Gray 10, Carmen 1, Carmen 2 and Declining Balance.
Carmen 1 and Carmen 2 are available only for students who live off campus and the Declining Balance plan is accessible to students who are in their second year or higher. All students, including first-year students living in an on-campus residence hall, can choose between the Unlimited, Scarlet 14 or Gray 10 plans.
“All students living on campus in a residence hall are required to have a dining plan – it is part of the housing contract,” Isaacs said. “Off-campus student may opt to purchase a dining plan.”
University dining plans are made up of Visits and Visit exchanges, Dining Dollars, and BuckID Cash. Visits allows students to swipe into any of the three buffet-style Traditions Dining Locations. Those buildings are Scott Traditions, Kennedy Commons, and Morrill Traditions. Weekly Visits are part of Unlimited, Scarlet 14 and Gray 10 plans.
Students with the Scarlet 14 and Gray 10 plans are able to exchange one Traditions Visit for a purchase of up to $8 at a retail location or $5 at a C-Store.
All plans include Dining Dollars which can be used at any Student Life Dining Services location and provide students with a discount on food purchases.
BuckID Cash can be used for transactions involving more than just food at establishments on and around campus. It is automatically included in the plans that include Visit exchanges, but all other plans have the option of adding BuckID Cash.
However, while Dining Dollars and BuckID Cash will continue to cumulate and be available to students for as long as they are enrolled at Ohio State, Visits operate on a weekly basis and unused swipes are not added to the next week. Isaacs stated that students should plan to redeem unused visits through exchanges before the week is reset at 3 a.m. on Monday mornings.
For Rebekkah Sommer,a second-year student studying agribusiness and applied economics who purchased the Scarlet 14, it is an inconvenience that the visits students pay for are not able to roll over.
“I usually just spend them to buy snacks for the next week,” Sommer said about her strategy to get the most out of her meal plan. “I go where I can get the full $8.”
According to Isaacs, students also have the option of donating unused visits to Block Out Hunger to benefit Neighborhood Services, Inc. as a result of efforts made by USG. Donations can be made by notifying cashiers at the Marketplace, North, and Morrill C-Stores as well as the PAD and telling them how many visits they would like to donate.
Scott Traditions is one of the three Traditions Dining Locations on campus.