On the brink of a possible third major change in as many years to the way students eat, Michael Coakley hopes this plan sticks.

“Oh God, I hope so,” the executive director of Student Housing and Dining Services said Monday. “But every time we change it, I think we’re changing it for the better. I’d like to see a year go by where we tweak it but don’t make any radical changes.”

In a proposal that should be voted on by NIU’s board of trustees March 19, the newly outlined dining plan would eliminate Dining Dollars and emphasize Huskie Bucks for further dining options. Huskie Bucks are a dollar amount placed into an account accessed through a student’s ID card, the NIU OneCard.

The plan would prevent the generally accepted annual raise in room and board rates, keeping the rate at $4,262 for the academic year. However, the plan beginning this fall would encourage students to put money into a Huskie Bucks account in a sum yet to be finalized.

In the process, the base amounts would begin at $50, a decrease compared to this year’s $60. But that amount comes with new qualifications. Under the proposal, that base money could be used only in the residence hall cafeterias. Huskie Bucks would take the place of the Dining Dollars’ convenience store transactions.

Also, students can select $75 and $100 bases, which are accompanied by the respective room and board hikes.

“It’s a way to address all these issues but with this ‘but’ attached to it,” Coakley said. “It’s like a two-edged sword. If someone doesn’t get any Huskie Bucks, they will lose flexibility. But people who do take advantage, they’re really going to have a service that I think is exceptional.”

The groundwork

What would make dining services change the dining plan for the third straight year? In an acronym, IRMA.

The Illinois Retail Merchants Association has asked to be part of NIU’s Dining Dollar program ever since Neptune Central’s The Trident convenience store opened, Coakley said. This year, IRMA representatives attempted to compose a state bill that would force public universities to open its Dining Dollar services to local businesses.

Although that threat subsided, Coakley and a group that included Residence Hall Association executives decided that, to keep room and board in check and conform to IRMA’s possibility, the new plan was needed.

That means a transition from the current plan that includes a weekly base of a non-refundable $60 and variable flex dollar amounts of $320 or $420 per semester. But proposed changes highlight a common concern. While unused flex dollars cannot be refunded in total at the end of the semester, Huskie Bucks can be refunded in their entirety, said Tony Brown, Residence Hall Association president.

“With Huskie Bucks, you have much more flexibility,” Brown said.

Huskie Bucks can be used to make purchases at the Holmes Student Center eateries, the residence hall washing machines and at local businesses. The Hot Spot, located at 901 Lucinda Avenue, added Huskie Bucks acceptance in fall of 1999 and the Subway at the same address also added the feature recently.

Coakley hopes that more businesses jump on the Huskie Bucks bandwagon, and in the process, help diversify dining options. The new businesses will compete with a dining trend heading toward “destinations,” or specialty cafeterias that offer something different like the Douglas Hall Dog Pound Deli. In the fall, Grant A/B Towers will house the Northern Lights area, an eatery that will feature an atmosphere similar to the restaurant TGI Fridays, with NIU memorabilia on the walls and games like foosball nearby.

Money issues

The plan still will allow students to add Huskie Bucks to their accounts in $25 increments. Under the proposal, a student would have the option of adding $200 to the Huskie Bucks account. That would be about 4.7 percent of the room and board rate. Normally, room and board rates rise about 5 percent each year.

Thus, students could choose to raise the personal room and board rate.

Alex Underwood, RHA administrative vice president, said that current plans detail no increase in the cost of meals for students. The $50 base would provide for about eight meals per week, without including any additional Huskie Bucks aid.

The lowering of the base amount from $60 to $50 addresses some students’ concerns that they can’t spend that much money per week, Coakley said. The optional higher bases would help those who need more money and provide for a minimum buy that clears overhead costs.

The shift to Huskie Bucks also allows students to bill Huskie Bucks to their financial aid through the Bursar’s office.

“It makes students’ OneCards more powerful, and parents know it can only be used for food or school-related activities,” Coakley said.

New students would pick a dining option at their orientation because contracts have already been sent out, Coakley said. The next edition of the newsletter Huskie Living will detail the plan for current students, who then will sign up for a plan when signing new housing contracts at the end of March.

The next step

The proposal will pass through a multitude of hands before appearing before the trustees. Interim Provost Lynne Waldeland, President John Peters, select Student Association leadership and the board’s Finance, Facilities and Operations Committee all will look over the plan before its presentation.

Until that time, though, both RHA leaders and Coakley anticipate having to explain the plan to students wary of the changes.

“I think it’s a really good plan because it’s what people want,” Underwood said. “This meal plan will be another transitional period, but it should be the best for students. Once you live on it for one or two weeks, then people really will catch on and like it.”

Then, it is hoped, major changes to the dining system can wait a few years. But that doesn’t mean everything will stay the same.

“There’s always room for change, and that’s what we’re always working on,” Brown said.