The University has made new changes to meal swipes and meal plans for the 2025 school year.
Student identification cards have been changed from having swipe bars to having bar codes on the back sides. Sophomores, juniors and seniors now have to change the procedure and scan a QR code that will take them to the school website to scan their meal plan.
Executive Vice President Mark Van Etten said the University changed to scanning instead of swiping due to a new software program.
“We switched software companies that track meal plans because one our licenses was going to expire in two years, and as well as we didn’t have the right cards anymore to work for both the cafeteria and dorm rooms. So that would cause students to have to have two student ID’s,” said Van Etten.
Van Etten also says that the University is trying to figure out a way to have mini QR codes that students can carry around in their wallets, so students do not have to spend a lot of time signing in after scanning codes in the cafeteria.
“There is going to be a QR code that you can keep in your wallet. So, rather than go through the process that you’re going through now, you will be able to have a QR code on your ID or in your wallet,” Van Etten said.
Third year psychology student Davon Reams said that the process of having to scan the QR code through the school website takes time.
“When I go down to the cafeteria it is usually when I am very hungry, and the process of having to sign in, and then put in your password is very annoying and takes too long. Sometimes it even backs up the line. It gets annoying if you’re not a freshman and just have the QR code on your ID,” said Reams.
This year, students are not allowed to use their own meal swipes to swipe other people in the cafeteria. To eat at the cafeteria, you need to have your own meal plan and meal swipe.
Amy Lahart, Vice President of Mission Integration and Student Life, said it is not fair that students that have meal swipes are using them for people who did not buy a meal plan through the school.
“It is not ethical and is not fair for a person to swipe a couple of people in. Where the swipes become a problem is when students live off campus and have friends who live on campus who would swipe them in. Metz plans for how many kids are eating based on the number of meal plans purchased, so if there are more kids coming in there is the potential for them to run out of food, and nobody wants that,” Lahart said.
Junior Sports Management major Patrick Garlinghouse thinks that people should be able to use their swipes however they see fit.
“As a kid who lives off campus, I still have a lot of friends who live on campus with meal plans. I do not have a meal plan, so when I am on campus for the day I would like to be able to get something to eat, but I cannot anymore because of the new changes in the cafeteria. My friends are willing to give up their meal swipes to spot me, and I just think it is weird that if you’re paying for your own meal plan that you can’t choose how to use it.” said Garlinghouse.
Sophomore Medical Imaging major Erica Moyer also says that she does not think it’s fair to people who live off campus.
“I commute from home, and I am usually here for about six to seven hours a day, and am usually hungry around lunch. Not being able to eat lunch without spending my own money is crazy to me considering we pay a lot to go to this school,” Moyer said.
Students should note that eating in the cafeteria without a meal plan will cost money.
“Lunch will cost $9.85 and dinner costs $10.40,” Van Etten said
First-year students this year do not get the option to choose their meal plans. In the past, there were three options for all students to choose how many meal swipes and dining dollars a person would get.
“If you live in McHale you have a particular meal plan. If you live in the town houses you get to choose your meal plan,” Lahart said.
Students who live on campus should also note that takeout boxes will now cost $6, instead of last year when they had two of them in their rooms.