Good atmosphere, tasty food, and a fair price

This is the goal of Western Illinois University Dining Services managed by Sodexo Campus Services. We’ve designed the dining plans to be flexible and meet the demands of a busy students’ schedule. We offer flexible dining hours, convenient locations, and a variety of services, including nutritional information. Academic life is difficult enough without having to worry about where to get your next meal. Let us make life a little easier. Western Illinois University Dining Services provides an extensive variety of quality menu items and exceptional customer service to students.

This dining guide has been designed to act as a quick reference to all of our services, so keep it handy throughout the year and enjoy all that we have to offer. We look forward to serving you!

Dining Plans

The dining plan at WIU is one of the most cutting edge programs in the country! Students pay for only what they eat - they do not subsidize other students’ meal programs and they do not pay for missed meals.

Our program is consumer driven, our dining staff plan for and respond to trends in student dining. Students find there is great variety in what is provided for meals and many opportunities to carry out prepackaged items. Our dining program does require that students budget their own purchasing power and remain conscious of the costs associated with their dining.

This is how the plan works. Each student buys into the A la Carte program at a rate dependent on the guaranteed rate assigned at the point of acceptance to the university. Students who enter in Fall 2008 will pay $1,430 per semester for the Basic Plan. This charge is referred to as “Board.” 50% of the board charge is taken off the top in order to pay for fixed costs, like salaries, equipment, utilities, etc. The student is given the remainder ($715 per semester) of the board for purchasing power. University Housing and Dining Services (UHDS) has instituted a new refund policy with respect to unused purchased power at the end of a term or academic year. Starting with the Fall 2008 semester, a student who leaves the institution at the end of the Fall 2008 will receive up to $125 of their unused purchase power. The rest will be retained by UHDS. At the end of the Spring 2009 semester, when your A la Carte account is closed, you will receive up to $250 ($125 if you are a Spring 2008 matric), the rest will be retained by UHDS. A student who starts in the Fall and withdraws during that semester will still receive their prorated point refund. A student who withdraws in the Spring, but was here for Fall, will receive their prorated point adjustment for Spring, but will be subject to the $125 refund policy for their Fall carryover, if there was one.

We use a declining balance system for purchasing power. This is loaded into an electronic account and encoded on the student ID. Because the overhead has already been taken off at the beginning of the semester, food costs are slightly above wholesale costs. Each time a purchase is made, the amount is deducted from the meal plan and the balance on the account is displayed on the regiester. If a student runs low on purchasing power, they are able to add more points to their acocunts through STARS or in Seal Hall. When students add more purchasing points to their accounts, no overhead is charged against these additional points..

Students are able to eat at any of our dining locations on campus. It is beneficial for them to eat in the residence hall dining centers because they have already paid the overhead for their dining program and they are not charged sales tax when using their ID card. However, food available in the Union Food Court is sold at retail.

Nutrition information

Do you have particular dietary needs? No problem! Our Campus Dining Services Program can accommodate your special dietary requirements. We understand the challenges that food allergies, food intolerances, celiac disease, and other dietary needs create, and we are here to help. Contact us via our website or speak with a manager at any dining facility. Basic nutrition information is available at any of our dining facility Balance Mind Body Soul kiosks. Our website features an on-line dietitian, nutrition calculator, food facts and other resources. Nutrition information is available for all foods served in the resident halls and the University Union Food Court. Visit http://www.balancemindbodysoul.com for more information.

A la Carte Dining Plans

• Basic - designed for the student who is a very light consumer. This type of student skips breakfast, occasionally misses lunch or dinner, is away from campus on the weekends and does not plan to use the dining plan in the convenience stores, for pizza delivery or in food court. $715 per semester purchasing power


• Plus Options 1 - designed for the student who is an average consumer, visits the convenience stores, has late night pizza delivery and will occasionally dine in the University Union Food Court. Additional $50 per semester purchasing power


• Premium Option 2 - designed for the frequent consumer who plans to eat more than 12 meals per week in a Resident Dining Center, purchase carry out items for later consumption from the convenience stores or if you plan to frequently dine at the University Union Food Court, this is the plan for you. Additional $200 per semester purchasing power

Flex Plan - This dining option gives off-campus students flexibility, with the convenience you expect. The prices displayed in the resident dining centers are those that are set for the residence hall boarders, which are slightly above wholesale prices. Off campus students have the opportunity to use their ID card as a declining-balance dining card by “loading” it with a beginning balance. By taking advantage of this option, prices are only 40% higher than the posted prices, and there is no sales tax charged. The Flex Pplan also offers the convenience of use in vending machines and public copiers, at the golf course adn the student recreation center, to purchase theatre tickets, and in the laundry facilities in the residence halls.

Dining Policies and Procedures

One of our main goals is to provide a pleasant, clean, comfortable and satisfying dining experience. In order to meet this goal, we ask for your assistance with the following procedures:

• Please bus your tray and disposables from your table when you have finished dining.
• Please refrain from taking dishes or utensils from the dining area.
• Lost or stolen cards can be invalidated by accessing the Stars drop down menu and choosing UHDS Lost or Stolen Student ID Card. During business hours students can also call 298-3329 to report the loss of their card.

You may also visit http://www.wiu.com/sodexo to access daily menu information, hours of operation, announcements of themed dining occasions, our monthly newsletter "FoodTimes", a management directory, information about student employment, dining center locations, recycling, an on-line comment board and e-mail access to ask questions.