Wildcat Bucks is a general debit plan that is accepted at any retail location that accepts the connection card including all CWU Dining Services locations, the campus food truck and food wagon, 1891 Bistro, the Wildcat Shop, laundry, and printing. Receive 10% off the purchase of food at any dining location and each purchase is tax free (18% savings when using Wildcat Bucks to purchase food). You may also qualify for a discount when you use Wildcat Bucks at specific locations. This is a perfect way for off-campus students and on-campus apartment residents who choose to not purchase a meal plan to have easy access to dining and other retail options on campus and save money.

 

In order to maintain financially viable University Dining Services and to give students the flexibility of meal plan choices, hours, and value, our meal plans are a combination of an overhead payment and Dining Dollars. The meal plans are on a declining Dining Dollar balance so that students have the flexibility to eat anytime, anywhere, and anything they choose. Plan A is approximately 18 meals per week, Plan B approximately 16 meals per week, Plan C approximately 14 meals per week, and Plan D approximately 12 meals per week. Students have a wide variety of dining options throughout the day. When selecting a meal plan, students should plan carefully, thinking about their eating habits, class schedule, work schedule (if applicable), and frequency of on-campus dining. Additionally, students should consider how frequently they might purchase items from the convenience stores and coffee/espresso venues.
 

Overhead: The overhead payment, which is 65% of the total quarterly meal plan cost, contributes to operational business costs such as: salaries (staff and student), utilities, supplies, repairs, debt service, and capital expenses. The overhead allows Dining Services to budget more effectively, thus passing a higher savings on to the customer.
 

Dining Dollars: Dining Dollars are the amount of money directly deposited into the student's meal plan account each quarter to be used for purchasing food. The total amount of Dining Dollars is 35% of the quarterly meal plan cost.

 

Discounts: Students with meal plans receive a 65% discount on food items purchased at dining services venues on campus (excluding coffee/espresso bars, smoothies, and convenience store purchases, which receive a 25% discount). Students do not pay the 8% Washington State sales tax on these purchases. Students who do not have a meal plan pay the full retail price.

 

Changing Meal Plan: Students may increase or decrease their meal plan, but only during the designated add/drop periods at the beginning of each quarter. Once the add/drop deadline has passed, students are committed to the plan that they have elected for the remainder of the quarter. You could change from Plan C to Plan A and back to Plan C to meet your individual needs during the year. Meal plan changes will be accepted until 5 p.m. on the last day of the Add/Drop period. Meal plan changes can either be done online through the Housing website:  http://www.cwu.edu/housing/ or in person in the Connection Card Office. Change requests via phone will not be accepted.

Remaining Dining Dollars: Any Dining Dollars remaining on the meal plan at the end of the quarter roll over into the following quarter; this roll over money is in addition to the new quarters Dining Dollars applied to the account. Regardless of the roll over amount, the full Dining Dollar amount of your chosen meal plan will be added at the beginning of each quarter. At the end of Spring Quarter, all Dining Dollars remaining on the mandatory meal plans are non-refundable. This is why it is very important to monitor your meal plan balance throughout the year and change the meal plan size based on your needs.

Dining Services Meal Plan Adjustment Procedures: Dining Services goal is to maintain good financial health while serving the nutritional needs of students. Residence hall students are required to choose a meal plan and pay for the plan at the beginning of each quarter as stated by the current Room and Board Contract. A variety of meal plans are available for student choice. Our meal plans have continuously met the needs of Central students. Our residential and dining staff makes every effort to educate students in examining their lifestyle to assist in making a proper meal plan selection. Students are encouraged to thoughtfully examine the available plans and to choose wisely.

Adding More Money: Students may add straight Dining Dollars to Plan A and Plan B at any time. No overhead will be taken out of the deposit. A $20.00 deposit will be $20.00 Dining Dollars and still receive the 65% discount. These plans include adequate funds to cover food, labor and traditional overhead costs associated with our university dining operation. Dining Dollars may be added at the Connection Card Office.
Students enrolled in Plan C, Plan D and Liberty Plans who may need more money for food may add money to Wildcat Bucks (not Dining Dollars) to carry them through to the end of a particular quarter. At the conclusion of the quarter a student should review the meal plans available and perhaps choose a higher plan the following quarter.

 

CWU students living in on-campus apartments may choose to purchase an apartment meal plan on a quarter-by quarter basis. The meal plans are a pre-paid dining debit account that residents use to purchase their meals, food, and sundry needs at all campus dining locations and convenience stores. The cost of each meal plan includes pre-paid dining debit dollars as well as overhead costs. Students must be in an active contract in a CWU apartment at the time of enrollment to sign-up.

The apartment meal plan sign-up period begins approximately one week before the beginning of the quarter and closes on the fifth day of class. Students must enroll each quarter and may select a different apartment meal plan at that time of each quarter’s enrollment.

If a student enrolls in concurrent quarters during the academic year, any remaining balance on their previous quarter’s meal plan will roll to the next quarter. Left over funds are forfeited if the student does not re-enroll or at the end of Spring Quarter. If a student withdraws from all CWU classes during a quarter, they may request a prorated refund of their apartment meal plan upon apartment check out.

Wildcat Bucks are an additional option available to all students, faculty, and staff of CWU.

Golden Ticket waiver students are not eligible for meal plan waivers through the apartment meal plan option.

All other meal plan policies apply.

 

Add value to Wildcat Bucks, check purchase history, access account balances through GET Mobile. No need to wait in line at the card office. Just download the (GET Mobile) app for ios or android. You can also send a link to parents/supporters to add money to your Wildcat Bucks.