Part of the appeal of attending NIU are the dining halls available to students living on campus, which are located in each residence hall.

Every year, the university houses new and returning students in dorms that provide them with a place to sleep, relax, study and eat. Dining halls offer a wide selection of food and a variety of options everyday. With breakfast, lunch and dinner provided at different times throughout the day for convenience, NIU dining offers students healthy meals and snacks at reasonable prices.

“I plan to eat in the dining hall basically every day or until I run out of money on my plan for that week,” said Matthew Watson, sophomore political science major.

If classes get in the way of the dining hall schedule, there are other places, such as the Trident at Neptune Central, to grab a quick bite to eat. For those who have classes that are located further away from campus and its main dining halls, Stevenson offers ‘continuous dining’ or the ‘Expressway Café,’ where students can take a quick break and refuel for the day.

Changes in the dining halls are being made to improve the students impact on the environment as well as the options available to them.

“One change this year would be Stevenson is going to a three week cycle menu in place of the one week as in the past. This should lead to more variety for students out at Stevenson,” said Michael Stang, director of Housing and Dining.

Students have expressed varying opinions on dining options available through the meal plan, however many have offered ideas for improvement.

Junior psychology major Brooke Williams said she only plans on eating at the dining halls twice a week.

“The overall taste and combination needs improvement,” Williams said. “Plus, the prices could be reduced.”

Erica Paczkowski, sophomore visual communications major, said that she wishes there were better food choices.

“I wish that the dining department would give students the option of organic foods,” Paczkowski said.