Frank J. Weissbecker, director of Food Services, will present a report on alternative meal plans at a meeting of the Committee on Houses and Undergraduate Life (CHUL) tomorrow.
The report will include a discussion of two ten-, two 14-, a 15- and 21-meal plans and will estimate the cost of their implementation as well as the size of board fee reductions for those students choosing to purchase fewer than 21 meals a week from the University.
Ten-Meal Plan
The ten-meal plan would provide students with two meals every weekday. Students would choose to eat either breakfast and lunch to lunch and dinner, at the beginning of each semester.
The 14-meal plan would provide students with the same choice every day of the week.
Students choosing the 15-meal plan eat three meals a day, five days a week. Food Services would also continue to offer the current 21-meal plan.
Weissbecker said yesterday students now only eat an average of 14 meals each week.
"Even if most students switch from a 21-meal plan to a 14-meal plan the cost of room and board will remain about the same. It's just that the cost per meal will increase if we implement a 14-meal plan. The total cost will remain the same," Weissbecker said.
Choosing
The University offered alternative meal plans in 1969 and 71 per cent of the students then chose to remain on the 21-meal plan, Weissbecker said. The University phased out the program at the end of one semester after deciding it was not worth the cost.
Weissbecker said he did not foresee a reduction in the number of kitchen workers the University employs as a result of offering alternative meal plans.
Savings
Weissbecker said that at most colleges with different meal plan choices, students choosing a 14-meal plan over a 21-meal plan save about $70 to $80 a year in board fees.
Dean Fox said yesterday Weissbecker's report is a response to a question about alternative meal plans raised in a recent CHUL meeting.
Student Decisons
"I don't have any proposal up my sleeve. This is a perennial topic of discussion. Usually after some time is spent investigating it, it appears less attractive," Fox said, adding, however, that the University will try to provide the information so students can make their own decisions about meal plan choices
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