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Jeff Steele: Meal plan misery

Frustrated with campus meal plans?

Published: Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Updated: Wednesday, March 17, 2010 12:03


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5 comments

Anonymous
Sun Apr 11 2010 16:00
This is an opinion article that didn't need to happen. Yes, Chartwell's has a history of not being the greatest food service provider of all time; however, students don't disprove of them high enough to complain at this level. In fact, I suggest you take a look at recent Quality of Life surveys given in the residence halls - over 60% of the student population on campus is satisfied. Fine, 60% isn't a great number, but it's been on the rise over the past few years because they are trying to make it work for us. Sharing complaints isn't going to improve anything - talking to the right people and coming up with reasonable solutions is the way to go.
Anonymous
Sun Apr 11 2010 00:09
"Chartwells frequently force-feeds information to convince students that they are dedicated to “student’s needs” and “convenience.” This is a grotesque misrepresentation"

For making these kinds of remarks, there is not an iota of evidence or research in this story to back up any of these claims. This story is irresponsible/reckless.

LogicSpock
Fri Apr 9 2010 10:22
Anonymous's argument is convincing. I've worked in the food service biz for a while, and I study biz, so I know there are logical explanations to be had. Students could benefit from learning about how Chartwell's is a business, not a charity. No one is helped if Chartwell's started losing money.
Ann
Fri Apr 9 2010 10:03
I think a lot of students on campus agree with you, Jeff!
Anonymous
Thu Apr 8 2010 22:05
Wow Steele, you sure put a lot of effort and research into this one. If you spent maybe ten minutes asking around, you would find many reasons that there cannot be open transferability. Instead, you based your article on assumptions. The line "They are simply deleted and probably become Christmas bonuses for Chartwell bigwig fat cats" just goes to prove this. You simply gripe about not being able to eat everywhere because you want to write about something everyone complains about. Your ideas aren't anything new. Every student from one time to another has come up with these simple solutions to these problems. If the situation really was that simple, then it would have been fixed by now. One of the main reasons why The Galley isn't open for transfer is because of the high volume of cash transactions there per day. Plus, many students on block meal plans eat there. Chartwells doesn't want to lose these real cash sales because people have to wait in line because of the flood of transfer meals.

Also, just last year Chartwells drafted up new meal plan options for students. Of these plans, one was a hybrid that included block meal plans and transfer meals. A student would get a certain amount of block meals for the year, and then transfer meals like normal. Students ultimately voted this down because the plan was unclear and because the costs for the plans changed to be more expensive in the last minute. Even though the meal plans didn't go through, it still shows Chartwells' attempts to work with the student body.

Now to address your 'have a place to eat 24-7'. If Chartwells were to have a place to eat open all the time, they would need people to staff these new hours. This would most certainly result in high costs for meal plans, or the elimination of other dining places. Chartwells works on a give-and-take system. They are willing to be flexible with students. If students want a place to be open for longer, they are fine with that, as long as the students are willing to accept that a different place will have its hours cut. Chartwells is not a charity; they are a business.

Now, for the last line of your viewpoint. Every student has the right to tell Chartwells what they want. That right is never denied in any way. There are open meetings that any student may attend. These dining services meetings are held frequently and are attended by the Chartwells manager for UW La Crosse, Tom Dockham.







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