Following recommendations made by the ASPC Food Committee, the Pomona College Office of Campus Life will reduce the number of meal plans offered from twelve to six for the 2010-2011 school year.
Currently, students can choose any combination of four meal options—12, 14, 16, or 19 meals a week—and three flex options—$80, $160, or $240. Next year, the school will remove all the 19-meal and $80-flex options, but students will still be able to choose any combination of the remaining options.
In addition, the school will continue to offer a plan for five meals a week, although students will have to apply for this option.
Dean of Students Miriam Feldblum said the large number of options offered was problematic for several reasons.
“There are a number of problems with having a multitude of plans, many of which are logistical for a number of offices in the college, and problems from inputting the different choices, tracking changes, billing changes, etc.,” she said.
Feldblum added that the increase in the number of options from six to twelve for this past year was actually part of a long-term plan to ultimately reduce the number of options.
“[Pomona’s] student government and Student Affairs [Committee] had agreed upon a process in 2008-2009 that would allow for a larger number of meal choices … but we did not know which of the different choices students wanted to see, so we needed to give time for students to choose the different meal plans,” Feldblum said.
The ASPC Food Committee reviewed all of the 2009-2010 options and then made a recommendation consisting of five or six plans in total. The school then made the decision to offer the five-meal plan in addition to the six options recommended by the Food Committee, according to Feldblum.