Dining changes hit both sides of Broadway this year, though some policies proved to be more controversial than others.
When Barnard students return next semester, they will all be on a mandated meal plan, a departure from the current policy, which only requires first-years and residents of certain dorms to buy a meal plan. The announcement was met with significant student backlash—far more than accompanied Columbia’s new meal plan structure, which will turn Ferris Booth Commons into a dining hall and allow students to buy meal plans by the week rather than by the semester.
Matt Kingston, associate director for housing operations at Barnard, announced at a study abroad program meeting last semester that meal plans would be required for all Barnard students starting in fall 2010. While a mandatory meal plan for Barnard had been rumored for months, nothing had been officially unveiled, and Kingston’s announcement was followed soon after by a school-wide email from Barnard Dean Dorothy Denburg confirming the change. Still, in a student forum in February, Denburg said that the administration had not planned on announcing the change until the room selection process began later that spring.
While Denburg’s initial email in the fall semester had stated that the mandatory meal plan was being introduced to foster community on campus, Barnard President Debora Spar later acknowledged that there was a significant financial impetus behind the change.
Spar noted at the forum that because Barnard is such a small college, it is difficult to negotiate deals with Aramark, Barnard’s food provider, which typically caters to much larger collegiate populations. On bigger campuses, costs are spread out across a larger student body, but with the smaller population at Barnard, the dining plan is more of a burden on each individual student, she said.
Still, students said they felt they had received mixed signals from Barnard administrators about the purpose of the meal plan changes.
At the forum in February, Hannah Goldstein, BC ’13, said she thought “a lot of the resentment is from the fact that the financial situation wasn’t expressed in the original letter. Students feel like they were led on by the pretense of community.”
“Point well taken,” Spar responded. “Especially in such tough economic times, we could probably do a much better job of showing you all what the broader landscape looks like in the future.”
In February, the administration assembled a meal plan task force—a group composed of students, student council members, and administrators intended to address concerns—and Denburg and Chief Operating Officer Gregory Brown later announced a final program. Campus residents and full-time commuters alike will be required to purchase a meal plan. First-years are still required to have an unlimited meal plan, and other students living in the Quad must purchase a meal plan ranging from 60 to 150 meals per term. All other students must choose from one of three $300 meal plans, including a points-only plan that can be used at any Barnard dining location to purchase à la carte meals and snacks.
On the other side of Broadway, Columbia announced a far less contentious change to its meal plan—come fall, John Jay Dining Hall, Ferris Booth, and JJ’s Place will all require meal plans or Dining Dollars instead of Flex.
In the first option for first-years, students may opt for 19 meals per week with 75 Dining Dollars per term, plus an additional 15 “floating” meals for any time and six “faculty meals,” or dinner with a professor on the house. In the second option, a first-year could have 15 meals per week and 125 Dining Dollars per term, with 10 floating meals and six faculty meals.
Upperclassmen, General Studies students, and graduate students will have four plans to choose from, ranging from 14 meals per week to 175 meals per term. They also have the option of guest meals.
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