Jay DeGioia, resident district manager for Sodexo, sent out an email last Friday to the student body that elucidated the changes to meal plan structures that Sodexo will implement in fall 2014. According to the email, the changes to dining services at Brandeis resulted from a request by the University for Sodexo to update the current dining program. DeGioia wrote that the new plans will provide students with increased flexibility in terms of where they eat and how they utilize their meal plans, according to the email.

Though DeGioia wrote that student feedback relating to the meal plan changes has been positive thus far, the Senate Dining Committee reported at Sunday night's Student Union Senate meeting that it is still trying to work with Sodexo to find meal plan options that are acceptable to the Brandeis community and to ascertain the release of possible prices. Part of this attempt involves the committee's research of meal programs at other universities in order to build the best possible plan for University students.

According to DeGioia's email, the new meal plan structure includes four new plans designed to give students more meals each week as well as an increased number of points to use each semester. The reason for providing additional meals, according to DeGioia, has to do with value. "As we add the second all-you-care-to-eat dining facility [in the Usdan Student Center], the thought was to give students the opportunity to visit more often, thus creating a better value," DeGioia wrote in an email to the Justice.

The University has not yet released prices for the new meal plans because prices have yet to be finalized, according to Senior Vice President for Communications Ellen de Graffenreid. Finalization or announcement of prices cannot occur until the Board of Trustees approves next year's budget at a meeting to take place later this month, de Graffenreid wrote in an email to the Justice.

According to Senior Vice President for Students and Enrollment Andrew Flagel in an email to the Justice, the projected cost increase will reflect the change from the current meal plan structure to the new one, and will not be formulated from scratch. "I should add that, although the new plans have more meals and more points, that cost increase is still based on the charges from this year," he wrote in an email to the Justice.

According to de Graffenreid, "the overall goal is to keep cost increases around four percent across all aspects of the cost of attending Brandeis," which includes tuition, fees, housing and dining. In an email to the Justice, Flagel wrote that "from everything I have seen, it seems that these new Sodexo plans offer the highest level of value for dining cost that we have ever been able to provide, while at the same time offering more venues, and with an expectation of a massive renovation in facilities."

Like the system of meal plans currently in place, the new meal plan structure will include different combinations of meals, or "swipes," and flex points. The unlimited plan will replace the 21-meal plan, the 17-meal plan will be exchanged for the 14-meal plan, the 12-meal plan will replace the old 10-meal plan and the eight-meal plan will take the place of the five-meal plan, according to Flagel. The unlimited plan will allow students unrestricted access to Sherman Dining Hall and Usdan Caf?(c), which will soon be renovated as a resident dining hall similar to an all-you-can-eat buffet. The Unlimited Plan also gives students 175 Flex Points a semester to use at retail dining locations. While the unlimited plan offers no guest meals, the other three plans all offer the use of five guest meals per semester. In the current meal plan structure, all meal plans except the Village Plan include five guest meals.

The 17-meal plan will provide students with 17 meal swipes to use each week at resident dining locations and 725 flex points per semester, while the 12-meal plan will offer 12 meals per week and 875 flex points each semester. Finally, the eight-meal plan will allow students to use eight meal swipes per week and 600 flex points for the semester. Meals will expire weekly, according to DeGioia, but flex points will roll over from fall to spring semesters before expiring at the end of the academic year. Both Usdan Caf?(c) and Sherman Dining Hall will continue to accept points as payment, and points will also be accepted at all dining locations including Sodexo's food truck, DeGioia wrote.

Meal equivalencies will still be accepted, but in a modified form. The new meal equivalency, called the "Take Three" option, will only be accepted as payment at the Hoot Market, according to DeGioia. Students will be able to use the "Take Three" option to purchase a sandwich or entr?(c)e salad, a side and a beverage at the Hoot Market, and pay for all three items with one meal swipe. Items available for purchase under the "Take Three" meal equivalency include sandwiches, salads, snacks, fruit, vegetables, hot entr?(c)e items, kosher items, gluten-free food, desserts and beverage selections, DeGioia wrote. This option may be used once per meal period, however, and students who chose the unlimited plan may not use this "Take Three" option at all, according to DeGioia.
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