Students who complained about leaving too many flex dollars unspent at year’s end along with a survey that showed a desire for more options are in part responsible for Sodexo’s big changes planned for the new school year.
“It was actually a collective decision,” said Wolcott Fary, Sodexo general manager, explaining that the changes “came partially from a survey that was done last year…the result being the addition of unlimited options and redirecting of the flex money and adding the dining dollars to get to a point where you had more options…that most likely would fit a broader range of students.”
Students who are willing to sacrifice some of their flex dollars can sign up for one of three “Bison All Access” meal plans, which offer unlimited meals in the dining room along with flex dollars in the amount of either $400, $200 or $0, with the cheapest option.
“The unlimited meal plans give students more flexibility in the dining room, thinking that the dining room is the primary usage area, and that’s where they’re going to take the bulk of their meals,” Fary said. “The dining dollars then, in place of the flex, give the students the opportunity to supplement their late hour needs for food and their Saturday needs for food when the dining room would either be closed, after hours, or typically on Saturday’s is not open at all.”
Elizabeth Wilson, Sodexo’s marketing coordinator, said students, university officials and Sodexo were displeased with the old system which left students with too many unspent –and wasted – flex dollars at the end of the year.
“That was definitely a concern from our surveys,” she said. “There were too many meals, there was too much flex coming in. Students didn’t have an opportunity to use that, and students were not very happy about that. That was one reason we considered making it a little bit better for students.”
Fary said Sodexo wanted to “make sure the students were getting everything they could get out of the meal plans and not ending up with extra flex that couldn’t be used.”
Another big change is that flex can no longer be used for bulk purchases (more than two of any item) in Uncle Dave’s or Starbucks. Dining dollars, which function similarly to flex, will be available and can be used in all locations across campus, except Uncle Dave’s. (During the summer, Uncle Dave’s moved downstairs in the campus center, inside the new bookstore. Wilson said it recently decided to move the convenience store back to the main floor in the same area as Zebi. This will allow the bookstore space to be used for textbooks and school apparel.)
Nick Painter, a senior from Franklin, Tenn., majoring in IT and web applications development said the meal plans “have always just been kind of a rip off … just forcing you to pay too much for food.”
But he likes the addition of unlimited meals in the dining hall. “I feel like this way, at least, you can eat whenever you want, and they’re about the same cost as the other ones. I think you get less flex. To me, $200 less of flex for unlimited meals… overall, it’s probably a good thing to give people that option.”
Officials in the business office and from Sodexo addressed the change in flex dollars, saying it occurred because students have not been using flex the way it was intended. According to Fary, flex dollars are taxed differently and, because of that, are not supposed to be used for purchasing non-consumable or bulk items.
“The flex is probably where things have changed the most,” he said. “Flex dollars are used this year for consumable items. As we got toward the end of last year, someone decided at some level, that the flex could be used for anything—food, non-food, bulk purchases. Because of the way the taxes are done, they can’t really be used for non-consumable items.
“For someone coming in this year, and looking at what the difference is, the difference is that you have less flex because it is just for consumable goods and more dining dollars so that they can be used for more meals.”
According to Wilson, items are considered “consumable” up to a certain point but then become non-consumable items that are, instead, being stored up for later use.
“There are limits in the convenience store this year,” she said. “You can only purchase a certain amount of each item because after that point, it becomes bulk.
Painter said he is doubtful that the changes to flex will be effective. “I think it’s just an on paper ‘This way we can be happy with the government.’ I’m assuming that’s the reason they’re doing it. If it is taxed that way, it has to be used for meals.
“Will that stop students from going out and then going back in two seconds later and buying the same exact item? Probably not. I just don’t see how you can enforce that. Unless they put something in the computer that says ‘don’t let them pay unless they’ve waited a whole day’ or something, then it’s not going to work. We’ll see.”
At some universities, Sodexo’s Off Campus Solutions allow students to purchase food at restaurants that partner with Sodexo and the university to enable students to use their ID cards in those locations.
Sodexo has been examining that option, which is something students support. But it won’t happen this year, said Fary, noting that such options may be available sometime “a few years down the road.”
“Part of whether or not that can happen is going to be dependent a lot on the vendors because the vendors actually have to have a system set up that reports back to our software in order to account for the meals…”
“An agreement has to be made with whatever the organization is about what percentage comes back to the campus,” Fary continued. “It doesn’t have to be a large organization, but it has to be an organization that feels like the traffic is going to be strong enough to where they want to invest in the software to be able to communicate with our software when a purchase is made.
“Copper Kettle and that whole conglomerate and the Subway across the street are probably the two most likely places for it to start, if it was going to start.”
The 2012-13 meal plan prices are about 5 percent more than last year’s which were: Bison Stampede $2,035, Bison Herd $1, 925, and Bison Traveler $1,745.
This increase in price is due to the rising cost of goods labor, Fary said.
“One thing that is important to note, Sodexo and the school are in a partnership with all the meal plans,” he said. “We submit to the school what percentage of increase we need to stay level, and then it’s actually the school that has the final word on the cost of the meal plans because it actually runs through the school.”
Sodexo isn’t only managing students’ meals this year.
The company also manages the university bookstore and is implementing a change that forces students to order their books online, instead of browsing stacks of texts in the store, if they want to purchase from the university.
Fary said the “more streamlined process” will lead to efficiency in book purchase and in year-end buy-back.
To order textbooks from the Lipscomb bookstore online, go to lipscomb.textbooktech.com and create an account. Wilson said students who want to pick up books in the bookstore must order them 24 hours in advance.
“You can pick up in the store after that,” she said. “You’ll have the same options to look for e-textbooks or new textbooks, used textbooks, or renting a textbook. It’s the same thing; it’s just an online format.”
Painter said he thinks this method actually complicates the book-buying process.
“To me, the advantage was to walk in and get your book, no hassle,” he said. “To me, that adds hassle to it,” he said, explaining that he thinks the new system “adds hassle” because students will have to fill out information online instead of just handing their schedules to the book-sellers.