In addition to going by 10ths of a meal when purchasing from Campus Dining Services locations, students will also be able to see the E.Z. Charge prices of food items.
CDS will begin posting dollar prices on all items at Baja Grill, Emporium and Time Out. Emporium and Time Out will also have a chart helping students understand how much a 10th of a meal is. CDS Director Julaine Kiehn said CDS hopes the move makes it clear how much items are really costing MU students.
Kiehn said CDS has plans to post prices at Baja Grill first. She’s planning on posting a chart with the costs of items according to the meal plan a student has.
“We thought that might be more effective because otherwise it’s pretty confusing,” she said.
Kiehn said students with a 275 block plan are paying $0.60 for a tenth of a meal, 225 block holders pay $0.64 and students with the 175 block pay $0.71. Customers paying with E.Z. Charge pay $0.85 per 10th.
Zach Toombs, Missouri Students Association director of communications, and MSA Chief of Staff Steven Dickherber started looking into CDS’ operations in Fall 2011.
In a previous [Maneater article](https://www.themaneater.com/stories/2011/12/2/cds-point-values-dollar-values-hold-large-discrepa/), Toombs said he and Dickherber found some items at Emporium and Time Out to be inflated up to 600 percent.
Toombs and Dickherber suggested posting the dollar prices on items to CDS.
“It’s a good step that will, for one, highlight to students how much they are paying for these items (and) what kind of value they’re getting,” Toombs said.
Freshman Amy Sayers agreed the actual cost of items should be clearer.
“They should (post it) because kids probably don’t even think about it,” she said.
Beyond changing the way prices are presented, Kiehn said CDS will be reevaluating the entire program for Time Out and Emporium.
“It’s not really headed in the direction that is best for our department,” she said.
Kiehn said CDS is not considering closing the locations, but will consider changing their products.
“They were never intended to be convenience stores,” she said. “And they’re starting to turn into convenience stores, which are then competing with our Mizzou Market. That’s not a good business strategy.”
CDS will be reevaluating those locations this semester and deciding their role for the fall, Kiehn said.
Toombs said he and Dickherber also suggested a smaller meal plan option with around 125 meals.
“We just think that there should be more options for students, especially students who don’t eat on campus quite as often,” Toombs said.
Kiehn said CDS is evaluating the new block dining plans that went into effect last summer. Because dining plan options for the fall have already been submitted to the Board of Curators, changes will not be made until at least fall 2013.
Kiehn said CDS will communicate with the Residence Halls Association and MU students if they decide to look into a new dining plan option.
