Dining sees dramatic fall in number of meal plans

It has not been a good semester for Dining Services.

With the success of off-campus vendors like the Freshgrocer and Philly Diner, the University is feeling the pressure to move quickly on plans to change the face of dining on campus.

This semester, 1,500 fewer students signed up for meal plans than did last fall, despite the new mandatory requirement that all incoming freshman purchase plans. Sophomore meal plan participation is down 30 percent, and junior participation is down 10 percent.

And even after last spring's controversial freshman decision, Dining Services is still only operating at a break-even level.

Part of the decline can be attributed to the closing of Stouffer Dining Hall this summer, which has left Class of 1920 Commons and Hill Dining Hall to take on the burden of serving the student body. Stouffer was closed as a result of the combining forces of financial instability and lowered student demand.

However, with only 2 percent of graduate students signing up for meal plans as well, it seems that the problems with Dining Services run deeper than the dining halls themselves.

Vice President for Business Services Leroy Nunery said the different living options and price sensitivity of graduate students makes that market a difficult one to capture. He added that while it is steeper than in years past, the dropoff in sophomore participation is to be expected.

"It's been historic and typical that particularly where there hasn't been mandatory dining for undergraduates, there is a dropoff between freshman and sophomore years," Nunery said. "By sophomore year, you have a better sense of the choices available."

Those choices for students have been dramatically expanded within the past few years. Campus dining halls are now forced to compete with low-cost dining options that offer a wide range of prepared food.

The increase in retail spots has been compounded by an increased desire for upperclassmen to seek off-campus housing in both West Philadelphia and Center City.

"There are so many more amenities," Nunery said. "The migration of a number of students off campus means that they are less inclined to eat in a dining facility."

Although Nunery said the University is currently focusing on the issues of quality, convenience and price of campus dining, some retailers say Penn has a long way to go.

Freshgrocer General Manager Dan Sutcliffe said he believes the "one-stop shopping" that his market offers is an big advantage.

"I don't want to throw jabs at the University, but I don't think they have the same quality," Sutcliffe said. "We have everything [students] need."

Administrators from Dining Services declined to comment.

One of the issues confronting Dining Services is finding a middle ground between the needs of students and the academic mission of the University. When the college house system was implemented five years ago, campus dining halls were intended to play a major role in developing community among students living on campus.

However, with the rise of low-cost options on 40th Street and the increased popularity of off-campus housing, the dining halls may not play the same role in fostering community on campus that they once did.

"At the same time, the customers are looking for more options and more flexibility," Nunery said. "Our challenge is to find a way to complement the residential system here."

Nunery said that the University is undertaking a complete review of its retail food plan, and they have already brought in an external consultant to develop new ways to serve the undergraduate and graduate communities.

One of the ideas that has been put on the fast track is a points system where students can use their PennCards to buy meals at a number of local retailers. Similar plans have met with success at other urban universities, and Nunery said he believes a system could be implemented as early as next fall.

"What we're looking at is the way that the PennCard system works so that we can give people more flexibility but still use the single system," he said.

The University has already contacted some local vendors about the possibility of a points system, where students are allowed to put money on their student IDs to be spent at local vendors. Most of those who the University has contacted support the idea.

"We are looking into the process of that," Philly Diner Manager Alex Abdul said. "It will bring more business in. It will also make us more a part of the University."

"I'm in favor of it," Sutcliffe added. "It would probably be the best situation."

Nunery cautioned that although local retailers are anxious to get the project off the ground, there is still some work to be done before the technology is in place to make such a system feasible.

"If the infrastructure isn't there, there's a lot of things that happen once that card gets swiped," Nunery said.

Comments (12)

Freshgrocer General Manager Dan Sutcliffe is correct. He knows he has Penn Dining beat. Penn dining will never be successful because the system needs to be decentralized. The food is terrible (seriously, the shit is not edible) and that is why the dining system is losing money. The dining system is throwing students money away by hiring labor that not only doesn't care, but seems to have vendettas for students. As far as the idea of linking PennCards to personal vendors, I don't know how successful that would be. For me, I don't think it would be necessary to use a PennCard when cash will suffice. Finally, I am sure the managers didn't comment because they didn't want to expose their incompetence. I mean come on, they hired a consultant! Here is a free consulting tip. Upperclassmen are going to move off campus. You cannot stop that. If you want to maximize profits you need to scale down the size of the dining halls (lay workers off) and place them in more convenient locations. For example, I have a feeling Kings Court is more successful than 1920s because it is smaller and the only people that go to Kings court are the people who live there. Penn Dining Sucks

Penn Dining is throwing away money by hiring a consultant on this issue. They will simply give you bottled up ideas that any half witted person could tell you. If you really want a plan, go back to this. The points system is a good idea, but don't necessarily go to outside vendors. Use things in Houston Hall and bring back CHATS! Have a dollar amount instead of a meal plan. If a student chooses to go to a dining hall for lunch it will cost them $X. The can buy a pizza in Houston hall for $Y. But have that money in a dining account. As for the hatred towards Penn Dining facilities...I believe that this ties directly to the lack of personality behind the counters nowadays. Stouffer was the place to be my freshman year. Why? One word that most students today have never heard....FLYMAN! Penn Dining are morons

what is wrong with you? not only is the food bad, but it's too expensive in the dining halls. but that aside, the lines are ridiculous - i had to wait 30 minutes to get a tuna sandwich, and i don't have the time, and nor does anyone else. the lines are terrible,the food is of low quality, and there is no where to sit because of the crowds - so why can't dining services fix that? close kings court and re-open stouffer. give us new places and new food. joanie

There is nothing more unsatisfying than eating at the Penn dining hall. Oh wait - yes there is - knowing that you've paid something like $8 for that ham & cheese sandwich. Fourteen times per week. No thanks, Penn Dining, I think I'll find some other way to "dine" next year. Torbert Washington Wilmington, Del. torbert_washington40@hotmail.com

When I was at Penn in the early 90's, I worked at 1920 Commons. I can tell you first hand that Dining Services is a total mess and that students are getting ripped off big time. Not only does the food quality and taste truly suck, Dining Services does everything it can to cut corners. I remember them cutting ice cream flavors to cut costs, going from brand name food to generic shit and saving and re-heating pasta and other stuff that should have been donated or thrown away. I remember learning some of the "chefs" came from other positions like lorry driver and physical plant and had no clue what they were doing. Mind you, this is not the chefs fault, but Dining Services'. If I were a student at Penn now, I would opt out of Dining Services as soon as possible. Maybe when enough students leave, the dumb ass beauracrats at Dining Services will get off their asses and do something about it. I won't hold my breath........ bg

Wait! Wait! I just want to get this straight....we are talking about Penn, Right? The home of the Wharton School, Right? The place ostensibly producing some of the most innovative and successful business people in the country, Right? And Dining Services management can't get their act together and are hiring outside consultants? I say hire a few Wharton students to come up with a business plan. They already know the basics of success (offer a quality product the customer wants at a price that is competitive and with efficient customer oriented service and advertise) which few in Penn's dining "service" administration seem to understand. The students could earn a few bucks, Penn could save a bundle of cash (which seems to be in increasingly short supply at Penn these days) and success would be the probable outcome. Seems to make sense, right? DS

I hate dining: 1.) My frosh year, they served egg casserole which had leftover in it from the week. Some of them hadn't been served for a week. 2.) They tried to force an increase in prices on the students cause they thought we wouldnt care. Well, they learned the hard way. Screw em J

As someone required to have a meal plan (14 meals per week) I am disgusted by the lack of courteous service in the 1920 Commons and also by the cost and convenience of dining. Granted Penn is an expensive instituition but when I can travel to Fresh Grocer, Wawa, or the like and find prepared food for a fraction of the cost that I am paying now I think there needs to be a reevaluation of the system. I feel that if dining was opened to include more hours, nicer workers (after all it is a customer service process), and a plan to increase the cohesive nature of outside food vendors and Penn we would be on the step to improvement. Heaven knows Penn and community support do not go hand and hand half of the time so I feel this would not only be a good system for Penn students but also the community. Let them get support by meal plans and students. In addition, when I walk into Commons and hear shouting between workers and argumentation as well as not receiving acknowledgement for my being there I have to wonder when management will step in. I realize that not all Penn students are as courteous to customer service workers and that they (Penn students) can sometimes be quite rude but I think the service further detaches from a "pleasant dining experience." In addition, I do not think forcing students to accept meal plans is the way to go. Granted it may get Penn dining revenue up but in the long run it causes resentment and is counterproductive. Tiffany

DS, Of course dining management can't get it together. Think of who they hire to prepare the food. Think of who the managers are. My suggestion for anyone on a shitty meal plan is to go to express lunch and get 12 to 24 sodas. That should somewhat cover the $10 for the shitty meals they make. Response to DS sdgf@df.com

I hope that dining will continue to loose money and hopefully go under at the end of the year because an entirely new system is the only thing that will work. All dining halls should work like food courts where you pay for exactly what you get. $10 for some chicken fingers, a bowl of cereal and a banana? Are you kidding me?. And then you feel like crap after eating it. Dump the whole system chickenfingers@onlygoodfood.com

The reason dining sucks is because Adam Sherr left. Bring back Adam! Bring back Adam! adamrules@adamsherr.com

The employees at dining are unfriendly and the quality of the food is poor. they are too strict about take out. i hope they go bankrupt. I'm canceling my plan ASAP. former diner

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