Understanding Campus Dining as an Auxiliary Enterprise
Campus Dining’s priority is always to meet the needs of our students while honoring our commitment to sustainability, customer service, and high-quality food products. As a campus auxiliary enterprise, it is fully self-funded and self-supported and does not receive funding from tuition dollars, the state, or other outside sources.
Approximately 35% of room and board revenue is allocated to Campus Dining for meals and food service in the residential dining commons. Campus dining distributes funding to each dining common based on historical trends and location. Meal plan rates cover not only the costs of food, but also operations, labor, facilities, maintenance, and emergencies. As a public, not-for-profit entity, any additional revenue is reinvested into Campus Dining operations.
Designing Campus Dining Meal Plans
Campus Dining carefully designs meal plans to balance the unique student needs at UCSB with our goal of delivering a values-driven campus dining experience. The residential and off-campus meal plans consider student resident input and have been modified over the years based on feedback and historical data.
Residential Plans
Off-Campus Plans
Each meal plan accounts for “missed swipes,” meaning we factor in the average swipes used to set the lowest price possible for our students, based on historic rates of missed meals for all residential meal plans. Moving to a rollover system would raise the cost of the room and board package to factor in the costs of every meal swipe in the plan, rather than charge the rate of the lower, average number of swipes used, incorporating missed meals. It also reduces our ability to predict costs and prepare food efficiently and accurately.
The meal plans, as designed, allow our team to predict supply and demand needs, reducing potential food waste and staffing shortages. Campus dining carefully craft each dish using multiple fresh ingredients. Pricing also allows us to maintain exceptional facilities, deepen our efforts to reduce food waste, promote sustainability, and offer a variety of quality food products across all residential dining options.
How to Provide Feedback About Residential Policy
Our team is receptive, open to feedback, and responsive to student needs. Changes to meal plans will directly impact students who live on campus through the housing rates. We encourage students to learn more about the Residential Housing Association’s efforts to shape residential policy by attending meetings and voicing concerns to RHA leadership.
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