With the Dash system now in its sixth term of use, thousands of Dartmouth students currently owe more than $375,000 to the Dash office as a result of negative discretionary and administrative account balances.
More than 3,000 Dartmouth students hold negative balances for their discretionary accounts and more than 2,400 hold negative administrative balances.
Discretionary spending accounts for the majority of Dash debt. Although most students are aware of the overdraft spending limit of $100, more than 400 students have negative discretionary balances exceeding that amount.
Dash Administrator Jeannette Montgomery said much of the more than $208,000 discretionary deficit is a result of departments which submit charges without using the computerized Dash accounting system, which system checks a student's account balance before allowing a transaction to go through.
The Dash Office allows students a maximum of $300 overdraft spending on their administrative balance before it penalizes them by putting a hold on their registration.
The continued predominance of negative Dash accounts, however, "hurts the College by impeding cash flow," Montgomery said. As a result, a more stringent plan will take effect Spring term -- students with a negative balance of $200, discretionary and administrative accounts combined, will not be allowed to register.
To improve management of accounts, the Dash office recently developed a computer program that e-mails updated balance information to students once a month.
Students in danger of a registration hold are sent a notice in their Hinman Boxes before the end of the term.
Dash administrators said they understand that what may seem like interest-free loans from the College are necessary for students with financial difficulties.
Chief Financial Officer Bill Barr said, "People who have less spending power can at least participate" in advantages offered by the Dash card by using the overdraft protection on the discretionary account.
The prevalence of negative Dash accounts may partly be a result of the Dash system itself. The convenience the Dash card offers increases students' ability to spend without keeping track of what they are spending.
"I just charge little things on it, and finally you don't realize how much you've used," Stacy Sanders '00 said.
