As the semester comes to a close and students look ahead to finals and winter holidays, John Jay dining hall seems to be bustling with significantly more first-years than usual. Alas, it is not the food that is suddenly attracting so many eager diners, but rather the desperate haste to see that glorious “0” on the register as one’s ID is swiped at the door. This long-awaited moment weighs on the minds of so many sleepy-eyed first-years who drag their feet to John Jay on Saturday and Sunday mornings, counting and calculating to figure out just how many more meals per week they must eat to finish the 200-meal meal plan they so naively chose.
While not every soul on campus despises the campus dining hall with a passion, one thing is for certain: by charging students a fee to switch meal plans, Columbia Dining Services effectively undermines its image as a fair, upstanding provider of on-campus food.
And why isn’t there a fixed price per meal? Students who choose the higher plans (with 210 or 185 meals) are paying significantly less per meal than students who choose the lower plans (150 or 115 meals). A student with the first plan pays $9.21 per swipe while a student with the fourth plan pays $13.78 per swipe. Is this John Jay’s way of luring incoming first-years to pay for more meals?
Suppose John Jay were to do what’s fair and implement a fixed price per meal. Then it wouldn’t matter if a student switched plans because every dining plan, which includes meals and dining dollars, would cost the same in terms of dollars per swipe. Nor should students be penalized for second-guessing their meal plan since they are required to choose one over the summer before having fully tasted the culinary flavors of John Jay.
The students I have spoken to who want to change plans tend to choose one with fewer meals and more dining dollars either because they find John Jay food simply unappetizing or have found decent food elsewhere. These students find themselves unable to go to John Jay as frequently as their dining plan prescribes. Afraid of not being able to finish all the meals they paid for, and thus wasting their money, some students naturally wish to switch to a lower plan.
In charging a fee for this, Dining Services sends out the message that it intends to maximize profits by taking advantage of the tendency of naïve first-years to choose too many meals. And who can blame these first-years when they see that each meal on the higher plan is only $9.21 instead of $13.74? It is a win-win situation for Dining Services whereby those students who do not switch run the risk of not getting enough food for their money’s worth, and those who do switch must pay extra for fewer meals.
If there were no fee, more students would switch their meal plans, and the fourth plan (115 meals) would likely see a surge in popularity. In this case, students might actually be able to eat every meal they pay for. In imposing a fee, however, Columbia Dining Services sends the message that it wants to capitalize on the sad but unconcealed truth that many students do not like John Jay food, and therefore cannot bring themselves to eat there that often.
As if the gross unfairness of a switching fee were not enough to call the policy into question, it has also contributed to many unfortunate habits among students. Some attempt to “eat” their money back by stuffing themselves at meals, but then later lament the consequences they behold in front of a mirror. Others grab handfuls of bag-able food to “sneak” out of the dining hall, and rumors have spread about the questionable tactics of those who even take silverware to go.
A great number of first-year students who pick the first, second, or even third meal plans regret their decisions because the dining hall food ends up being an unpleasant surprise. But an even more unpleasant surprise to students is the $25 fee to change meal plans.
To be fair, John Jay should either provide incoming first-years with some informative statistics on the number of students who switch to each of the four meal options or, more simply, allow students to freely switch meal plans. This would be reasonable, fair, and greatly appreciated. And this way, even if students complain about the food itself, they can’t blame John Jay for any plainly unsavory, profit-hungry practices.
The author is a Columbia College first-year.