Last week, representatives from Chartwells asked students to participate in a survey that questioned which retail options students most and least liked, what options they’d like to see in the food court and how important it is to have nationally-recognized food and coffee brands here on campus. Chartwells surveyed over 200 students and is currently going over the results. So far, Chartwells isn’t sure if or when the new unit will be available.

However, students’ main concerns remain on the topic of food affordability. Students are consistently complaining about the quality and price of the food available on campus. Chartwells is aware of student affordability concerns and has provided price comparisons based on their own research in a poster titled “Dare to Compare.” Here, Chartwells compares the price of food on campus to their competitors’ food prices for the same meals.

“We conduct a very thorough price comparison of our prices versus our competitors once per year,” said Marissa Dinello, director of marketing for Chartwells. “Most times when comparing Chartwells products and prices to local venues, our prices fall in line with or beat our competitor’s price.”
In addition to using competitors’ prices, Chartwells also bases their food prices on their food cost. Regardless, comparing campus food prices to competitors’ prices is a little out of touch – most students can’t afford to eat out every day. Instead, Chartwells should be comparing their prices to how much it would cost to buy the groceries for similar meals. What they would find is that it costs less to buy your own groceries and make your own food than to buy food outside or on campus.

Meal plans cost between $250 and $2,452 per semester. For freshmen living on campus, meal plans are mandatory. Additionally, there are restrictions on what type of meal plan each class can purchase, with freshmen plans being the most expensive and least flexible choices. Underclassmen meal plans come with a higher number of meals per week or semester and a lower amount of dining dollars. Upperclassmen and commuter meal plans come with more dining dollars than meal swipes.

Purchasing a week’s worth of food from Wegmans or Tops costs about 30 percent less than it would if you were to eat on campus, even more if you’re a commuter without a commuter meal plan.

“They should give us more in our meal plans,” said Imara Ward, junior communications major. “Definitely more dining dollars since the food is so expensive on that side.”

In order to help students with meal plans save money, Chartwells excludes sales tax for food purchases in retail and discounts meal swipes at the dining hall for those with meal plans. Furthermore, Chartwells offers $5 WOW! Deals at most of their retail locations. Even with these small ways to save money, students still manage to deplete their meal plans before the semester is over.

“Now that I don’t have any retail money I try to catch dining,” said Ward. “It just sucks because I have late classes and when I come out [of class] dining is closed and I don’t know what I’m going to eat.”

Students cite convenience for the reason that they purchase meal plans or food on campus, but remain unsatisfied by the quality.

“They have the brand names but not the same quality of food,” said Steve Caldwell, sophomore geology major. “It’s like false advertising.”

“They don’t really have a wide variety,” said Ward. “The taste at dining sometimes sucks. I think they should have more healthy options; there’s a lot of fried, unhealthy foods.”

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