In an effort to encourage more students to eat in the cafeterias, UW-Eau Claire has launched two new meal plans and extended hours this semester, said Charles Farrell, director of University Centers.

The two new meal plan options – All Access and Blugold Preferred – have replaced the specific set-meals-per-week plans of previous years. The declining meal plan still remains.

Farrell said the meal plans were revised because the number of set meals each week didn’t work for everyone, and the $3.50 transfer credit to use in the retail dining locations was not enough to pay for an entire meal.

“The extra money came from somewhere,” he said. “It came out of their pockets. People had a perception that they were paying ‘x’ for their meal plan when they were really paying ‘y.’ What we did was try to figure out plans that addressed those concerns.”

Sophomore David Hon said he has a unique perspective on the new plans because he has been involved in the on-campus group The Foodlums and has been active in the Governors Hall dining committee. He said he likes the new plans because he wasn’t happy with the inflexibility of transfer meals.

“It’s a lot less stressful,” he said. “You can eat as much or as little as you want; it doesn’t matter.”

General Manager of Blugold Dining Christian Wise also encourages students to attend the weekly dining committee meetings. He said they are a way for student concerns, desires and expectations to be addressed.

The first dining committee meeting will be at 4 p.m. Sept. 17, in the Potawotomi Room of Davies Center. Subsequent meetings will usually take place at the same time and place Thursday afternoons, with the exception of a few holiday changes, Wise said.

Senior Brian Wedl, who is a Resident Assistant in Towers Hall, said he thinks the new plans are a good start but a work in progress.

Not a fan of eating in the cafeteria often, he opted for the declining meal plan, because he said he likes the freedom it allows him.

Wedl said his residents have approached him about the meal plans, asking how they work and what the best options are.

“The one that seems to be the most economically feasible to me is the All Access. That way you can just go to the cafeteria as much as you like whenever it’s open,” he said.

Blugold Dining is online at http://blugolddining.blogspot.com, and is on Facebook and Twitter. Wise encouraged students to view those pages, as they list information about dining issues on campus.