The Student Council Dining Affairs Committee recently released the results of a survey, that found most students viewed their University dining experience as "average."
The survey was distributed randomly via e-mail to 1,500 upperclassmen earlier this semester. Those who had purchased a meal plan in the spring were asked to participate. In two weeks, 374 students responded.
Of the major findings, 42 percent of the students rated their overall dining experience as "average," and 23 percent thought it was "fair." Twenty-six percent of students surveyed thought it was "good."
"Nothing on this survey really surprised me," said Council Dining Affairs Chairwoman Rachel Paccione. "From what I've heard through my committee over the years, I expected the food ratings to be around average."
The survey asked students to rate a variety of separate criteria of the dining experience, including taste, variety, cleanliness of the dining halls, convenience of hours and value for the money.
"The most shocking result to me was that 49 percent of people who had a University meal plan last semester failed to purchase one this semester," said Connie Dong, a College representative for Council who serves on the Dining Affairs Committee. "When asked why they didn't purchase another one, 38 percent cited the high cost of meal plans as the main reason."
Value for the money received the lowest rating among the criteria. Forty percent of respondents said the value was "poor."
Cleanliness of service area, speed of service, and availability of nutritional info were the only items to receive a "good" rating.
Additionally, 66 percent of respondents said they would favor a "Plus-Dollars- Only" meal plan in which students would have no previously allotted meals and would use plus dollars to purchase both snacks and dining hall meals.
"The current dining system, where prices are different depending on whether you purchase your meal with cash, Cav Advantage, Plus dollars or through your meal plan, needs to be fixed," Dong said. "Otherwise, people will continue to switch to lower-cost alternative meal plans or simply buy their own groceries."
University Dining Services actually releases its own survey to students every year. However, both Paccione and Dong said obtaining those results is sometimes difficult.
"We wanted to make sure we were representing the students," Paccione said. "We decided to create our own survey, a 'by-the-students, for-the-students' sort of thing."
Some University students reiterated the survey findings, saying that they feel the dining halls could use some improvement.
"There is a variety of food, but you get tired of it," third-year College student Cristina Mason said.
"Changing things throughout the year would help the dining hall experience."
Third-year College student Ellen Loney voiced similar sentiments.
"I really like the grilled cheese," Loney said. But "I normally tried to stay away from the entrees, which desperately need improvement"
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