Your Meal Plan and its Balance

Dining Services provides a variety of quality menus and services to CWU students. All Dining Services locations offer convenience and chef-quality cuisine in comfortable and clean facilities that also function as gathering places for social and educational interaction. Sound nutrition is emphasized for a healthy lifestyle and is the foundation of all Dining Service's menus. Dining on our campus is a unique, social and educational experience. It is part of the campus culture and part of a healthy, overall student experience. We encourage our students to eat on campus because of the healthy, nutritional content of our meals.

Occasionally, students that take full advantage of the meal plans throughout the beginning of school don't continue to use their pre-purchased plans to the degree that was expected. While we offer limited opportunities to adjust a meal plan to a lower level, this should be a warning sign that you may not be maintaining your nutritional needs. Sometimes students choose to go home on Friday and stay through Sunday evening. Add a dinner sponsored by a student organization or an off-campus dining experience and suddenly you are acquiring a balance on your meal card.

Dining's total cost per quarter includes expenses for preparing and serving food, cleaning the residence dining facility, mortgage payments, and utilities. Housing and Dining are a prepaid, contractual arrangement between a student and the university, designed in the best interests of both parties. Dining has to pay for these expenses up front, including labor and food costs. We always anticipate students to come to the dining halls to eat because of our contractual obligations to one another.

If you are experiencing high balances on your card, Dining Services offers opportunities to purchase items at our C- store locations. Items purchased can help to reduce your dining balance, but the best way to keep your balance reasonable is to eat regularly at the dining halls. Both the student and Dining Services have a contractual agreement with one another. We want this to be a win-win situation for all. Students are encouraged to pay attention to food spending outside of the dining plan because using cash out of your pocket to pay for food you've already pre-purchased can create financial problems. It may cause you to give away a large balance at the end of the year. Remember, by contractual obligation, balances left on your meal plan at the end of the year are retained by the university.

In order to give you additional opportunities to lower your card balances, the C- stores will be carrying some higher value items that would be worth purchasing before you complete the end of spring quarter. Please check out the C- stores. At the same time, pay attention to your dining habits, so you can take full advantage of your pre-paid dining dollars. Once again, remember that since the dining plan is not accepted in the summer, the balance is not carried over from spring quarter to summer quarter or the following fall quarter.