Associated Students of the University of Utah (ASUU) hosted U dining officials at Kahlert Village to discuss current events related to the university’s dining services on Wednesday, Sept. 30. Open to all, the event allowed the public to express their concerns and thoughts about the current state of the on and off campus dining services.
Both housing and dining officials took questions ranging from concerns over pricing, food truck placement and options relating with the new Flex and Flex+ plans. The panel discussed their current thoughts, goals and concerns as well.
Changes in dining at the university
Each member of the panel hosted by the ASUU addressed their own professional goals and interests. Panelist Kyle Suerth, the operations executive for Chartwells Higher Education Dining Services, spoke about the new Flex and Flex+ plans provided to students.
Suerth clarified the differences and advantages between each plan that is currently provided at the university. “Each dining plan has a specific amount of Flex Dollars. They’re used like a gift card that goes with your plan. So with the plans this year, like they were saying, they’re a little bit more expensive,” Suerth said in an interview with The Chronicle. “When it comes to Flex Dollars versus Flex Plus, Flex Plus allows you to use your Flex Dollars at vendors that are not typically available on your dining plan.”
Suerth said that he and the U are working with companies like GrubHub to increase the amount of available locations off campus that Flex Dollars can be used. “It started with Starbucks. We added food trucks,” he said. “There’s gonna be two more sites that are active, and then we’re also working with Grubhub to be able to offer off-campus Grubhub partners to also be able to use their 50% of that pool of Flex Dollars at those as well.”
Panelist Anna Dickherber, executive director of Housing and Dining Programs, along with fellow panelist and Associate Vice President of Housing and Dining Programs Seans Grube, recently became the overseers of the dining program at the U.
Addressing a student’s question on plan pricing, Dickherber addressed the current state of meal plans within the current academic year. “For this year, the winter break is built into the dining plan,” she said. “So a student’s dining plan will still work through that winter break period.”
Changes in meal plans
A major difference in how meal plans are structured at universities exists. Weekly-swipe plans provide students with a set amount of swipes per week, which reset at the end of the week. There are different levels of swipe plans that provide more or less swipes per week. Block plans, like swipe plans, are prepaid. Instead of a weekly limit, however, the amount of swipes a student has is set at the beginning of the semester. They can be used whenever a student wants, the only limit being the original amount, either that be 40 or 150 swipes a semester.
Dickherber discussed upcoming changes in meal plan options that will allow students to opt-out of times they won’t need meals. “For next year, a student will be able to purchase a dining plan to cover that winter break period. The block plans that we were discussing will be in place also for academic year ’27-’28,” she said in an interview. “So for those commuter students or non-mandatory dining plan holders, they’ll be able to choose either one of the larger plans, Swoop plans – Swoop 10, 14, or 19 – or one of these block plans. Those block plans, if you look online, aren’t published yet, but they are coming.”
Expressing concerns
Panelists also provided feedback to ongoing concerns such as pricing, hours of operation, allergens and the food trucks on campus. Students were able to also discuss these issues with the officials one-on-one after open discussion concluded. Present at the event was Campus Executive Chef Ken Ohlinger, who spoke about his role in addressing allergens and acquisition of ingredients.
Abby Barron, a resident advisor (RA) at Trailhead, came to express her concerns about campus dining and her previous inability to discuss allergens with dining services. She also came to express the concerns of the freshmen she oversees. “I feel really good that a lot of people were able to voice their concerns,” Barron said in an interview. “It’s basically everything I’ve been hearing, in my own head and from my friends, but also from all my freshman residents that are constantly complaining to me.”
Josh Hilbig, a member of the ASUU and a residential advisor, wanted to express concerns about the pricing of the meal plans and wanted to know more about what the university is doing about it. “I’m a senior, so I’ve been here for a few years and I’ve noticed the cost of the dining plans has gone up significantly, and so I’ve been working with dining,” Hilbig said in an interview. “The unit price is something like $1.25 for a Gatorade, and selling it for $4 I think is a little bit too much.”
Reactions to food truck cahnges
In addition to discussing dining changes, panelists addressed recent changes regarding the food trucks on campus. For the past 13 years, a group of six different food trucks had contracted with the university to be able to operate on campus, often on the plaza of the Marriott Library.
The owners of these food trucks became upset after the U decided to not renew their contracts, notifying the food trucks last minute after some had already purchased materials. University officials later acknowledged the poor timing.
The decision to not renew the contract sparked controversy over whether prices would increase for students, if the food truck owners would lose profits or if the university treated the previous food truck owners unfairly.
Taking the place of these six food trucks, the university has agreed to partner with the Food Truck League, which has over 150 food trucks that it works with. Dining officials like Dickherber and Grube hope the new system will not only allow for greater food diversity, but also allow the university to better vet and establish a more formal relationship with the food trucks.
Dining officials said they were also concerned about the safety of campus infrastructure, and for food trucks to better follow formal guidelines. Grube and Dickherber acknowledged that the system has not yet been perfected but hope to smooth out rough corners as the academic year progresses.
A new system
Dickherber compared the previous food truck system with the new one. “It’s important for us to expand out, [and] we’re bringing in additional local business. So we’re really helping build a students’ community in terms of Salt Lake,” Dickherber said in an interview. “We’re adding that variety to campus so students, faculty, staff, everyone can have some additional opportunities to try something new or try a favorite that’s coming to campus for the first time.”
In an interview with The Chronicle, ASUU Director of Academic Affairs Pamalatera Fenn said food truck vetting is important for students and staff. “That matters more to me than anything. The Food Truck League can guarantee that where I’m eating at is clean, friendly, and is actually verified to serve that food,” Fenn said. “So if a food truck’s serving me gluten-free and it’s actually not gluten-free, that’s something they would catch.”
Members of the original six food trucks did not make public comments at the town hall.
Finding solutions
Hilbig commented on the importance of public town halls. “I think it was successful to get people to feel heard, because that’s also one of the frustrations is people just don’t understand what’s happening,” he told the audience. “So when people sit down and actually take the time to understand it, a lot of those frustrations either can be cleared up, or a more direct solution can be found.”
