Although it is too early to assess the impact of the College's new meal plan, Dining Services Director Peter Napolitano said the plan has served to reduce the number of students opting to get punches.
Approximately 800 students chose a 14, 10, or five-punch meal plan this fall, according to Napolitano said, compared to about 1500 last year.
The new meal plan, which took effect this summer, eliminated the freshman punch requirement and instituted a sliding scale of fees for declining balance accounts.
Sophomores were charged $25 this term, juniors paid $38 and seniors had to pay $70.
"As anticipated," more students chose to purchase a DBA, Napolitano said, creating a considerable drop in the numbers of students choosing punches.
Napolitano said the effects of the new dining plan and the reduction in the number of students opting for punches will be assessed Winter term.
"Everything has been working out pretty good," he said. "However, it's still a little too early to gauge the effectiveness of the new meal plan."
Napolitano said he and College Vice President and Treasurer Lyn Hutton would also assess the effect of the new meal plan on Full Fare this winter.
The situation with Full Fare continues to "evolve and change," Napolitano said, but he said there will always be all-you-can-eat dining available on campus.
Full Fare's hours were changed in conjunction with the new meal plan, Napolitano said. Full Fare is now closed on Fridays, but open for Sunday dinner.
"Full Fare hours were changed to meet student demands," he said.
Hutton said the new plan seems to be "pretty popular" among students and that the College "will continue to maintain the new dining options as long as they are financially viable."
But she said it is a "little premature to judge the new dining plan."
Hutton said the new plan came about because most freshmen opposed the punch system and most upperclassman felt the partial refundability of declining balance accounts was unfair.
Under the old plan, DBA was only refunded up to $100.
Hutton said the College last spring decided to implement a variation of a plan proposed by the Meal Plan Task Force, which was formed by Hutton and former Student Assembly President Nicole Artzer '94 two years ago.
According to Hutton, the recommendations proposed last year by the Task Force had three goals -- to make DBAs fully refundable, to offer the same selection of meal plan options and to implement the changes without cutting hall hours, laying off employees or increasing prices.
