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Appalachian State University is moving to a swipe-based meal plan for select campus dining locations beginning next fall. App State dining says the meal swipe policy will enable more choice for students, while maintaining the existing dining dollar declining balance system.
According to a report from The Appalachian, the new swipe plan will apply to Rivers Street Cafe and Park Place at the Pond - locations housed in campus dining halls.
“One benefit of the new meal plan system is that dining costs will be more accurately reflected in the estimated cost of attendance, which is an important metric used to determine financial aid and need-based scholarship support,” says John Eckman, Vice Chancellor of Campus Services.
App State students will have a choice between All-Access plans and Block 50 plans. All Access plans will allow students between 14 and an unlimited number of visits to dining locations each week. Block 50 plans will allow between 50 to 150 visits per semester.
“The cost of the current declining meal plan covers an average of 68% of meals on campus,” says Eckman. “The All Access 7 plan- which offers unlimited visits 7 days a week- will be the plan option that is used to help determine the cost of attendance.”
First year students will be required to purchase either the All Access 7 or the Weekly 14 plan. Per the App State dining website, All Access 7 plans provide students with unlimited weekly visits to the on-campus dining locations , as well as include $250 in dining dollars per week.
The Weekly 14 plan will provide students with 14 visits per week and $450 dining dollars per semester. Dining dollars can be added to student accounts at any time and in any amount through the AppCard office.
Swipes, meanwhile, will be reloaded each week but unused swipes will not roll over from the fall to spring semester. There will also be no time limit between meal swipes.
University officials are already preparing for an increase in traffic in campus dining, plotting summer renovations to dining locations. There are plans to implement new equipment for no-contact, quick entrance, as well as customer self-service lines.
