Returning sophomores reminiscing about life on East Campus may remember the good old days of last year, when they could turn their missed breakfasts into Marketplace lunches. At least for now, however, bleary-eyed freshmen will have no such luck.
Last spring, Duke Dining Services and ARAMARK, Corp.—the company that manages the Marketplace—launched an eight-week “meal equivalency” program that brought much-desired flexibility to the pre-paid freshman meal plan. Under the program, freshmen who missed breakfast were able to use $4.85 toward buying a weekday lunch at the Marketplace. In its first few weeks, the program brought an additional 100 to 200 students to the East dining facility every afternoon.
For members of the Class of 2009, however, missed breakfasts will not be reimbursed, as administrators have decided not to continue the program this fall.
Fred Bissinger, resident director of ARAMARK said the experiment cost ARAMARK nearly $5,000, and Jim Wulforst, director of dining services, said the program was too inconvenient for the freshmen who had to make the trek back to East in between classes to buy lunches at the Marketplace.
But Wulforst said the meal equivalency program might resurface by the end of the year. He is also confident that last year’s program will prove valuable in shaping new dining plans.
“The intent was to respond to student needs,” Wulforst said. “From my perspective, the experiment was worthwhile. We got a lot of good data out of it.”
The information gleaned from the experiment will be used to create the most accommodating meal plan for freshmen and dining services alike, Wulforst added.
Bissinger and Wulforst are currently collaborating to create a similar meal equivalency program in the ARAMARK-operated Great Hall. Under the new plan, freshmen who miss breakfast on East would be allotted money for lunches in the Great Hall.
“My goal is to make the program for first-year students as flexible and as varied as it can be without compromising the expenses of running that East Campus operation or compromising jobs in the process,” Wulforst said.
Even with potential dining changes in sight, many students who took advantage of the meal equivalency program last year were perplexed by the decision to discontinue it.
“I think that the program at the end of last year was a great way to strike a balance between meal plan and food points,” sophomore Drew Rindner said. “It doesn’t make sense. Everyone was pleased with the meal plan at the end of last year.”
And though freshmen are just sinking their teeth into the dining plan—which started operating last week—many said they would not mind adjustments like a meal equivalency program.
Freshman Libby Jenke said she is happy with the current meal plan but would appreciate more options in the future.
“I think it would be helpful to have a little bit more variety like the upperclassmen,” she said.
Wulforst hopes continued experiments similar to the meal equivalency program will facilitate an expansion of dining options for all students.
“We’re not done with the experiment yet,” he said. “We want to be able to mold a program that meets the sleeping needs of the students, the dining needs of the students and the academic needs of the students.”
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