NIU’s University Food Service might implement a student discount rate plan for the Pow Wow Room, Pheasant Room, Blackhawk Cafeteria and the catering service for the fall semester.

University Food Service Director Robert Frederickson said the plan is “very much in the planning stages.” He said it would include credit cards for interested patrons.

Frederickson said he “would like to see the credit card setup” but added there could be a decline in food service income if a discount plan was offered.

“We can’t (implement the program) without more income,” he said. “Hopefully, the discount plan would increase the number of customers and sales.”

Frederickson said the credit card idea has been offered at other schools which have seen an increase in food sales. He said some fast food chains are also looking at charge propositions.

But he added since the idea is only in the early planning stages, no prices or figures could be determined as of yet.

“Anything we put into place would be for a trial period,” Frederickson said.

William Herrmann, director of bond revenue operations, said Frederickson will be looking into background information on cost projections to determine if the plan is practical.

Herrmann said the idea “has been looked at other times, but hasn’t been found to be very practical.”

“At meal hours, the lines really pile up,” Herrmann said. “The extra 10 to 15 seconds it takes for people to dig for their cards could really create problems.”