Status of Dining Plan Changes

[Vrajesh Modi and Sammi Wyman (UA P/VP)]

Undergrads,

Over the past several weeks, an increasing number of students have expressed
concern over the proposed changes to House Dining.  In early October, a
petition signed by over 5% of undergraduates mandated an Emergency Meeting
of the UA Senate, at which a number of residents from House Dining dorms
voiced concerns.  At approximately the same time, analysis of the data from
the UA Survey showed that the vast majority of students in House Dining
dorms preferred the current plan to the proposed plan.  Most recently, the
UA officers were copied on a petition to the MIT President that was signed
by over 60% of Next House residents.

It is clear to the UA leadership at this point that there is a large segment
of students that has serious concerns about the plan as it is currently
proposed.  We are committed to finding ways to resolve, mitigate, or at
least adequately address these concerns.  It is our current understanding
that the concerns about the proposed changes are largely based around three
areas:

   - *Cost:* Despite the additional services that the new plan provides,
   such as breakfast, staggered hours, high quality food, and more
   vegetarian/vegan/special dietary options, students feel that the proposed
   plan is too expensive, and that the additional value is not worth the added
   cost.
   - *Displacement:* Students who would like to stay in MIT Housing but
   would like to move to another dormitory in order to avoid the increase in
   food cost are concerned that they will not be able to do so, due to the
   length of the waitlists.
   - *Community:* Students who would like to stay in House Dining dorms are
   concerned about the impact that the changes in the dining plan will have on
   the communities there, especially in terms of losing upperclassmen.  Some
   students in the other dorms are also concerned about the effect on their
   communities because incoming freshmen may choose one of these dorms due to
   the lower cost, even if the culture is not right for them.


We have been articulating these concerns to the relevant faculty,
administrators, and students over the past several weeks, and we will
continue to advocate for your interests going forward.  Tomorrow, we will be
meeting with the Dean for Student Life and the student representatives to
HDAG to consider a proposal that we believe may allow students some more
flexibility.  If the group determines that this proposal is worth further
consideration, we will reach out to you for further input.  Please realize,
though, that the RFP process for the new dining system is well underway, so
the ability to make changes at this point is limited.

At this point we recommend that you do the following:

   - If you have not already, make yourself familiar with the details of the
   plan: http://studentlife.mit.edu/dining-information-central
   - If you have any questions or concerns after reading the website,
   contact your dormitory president, dining chair, or housemaster.
   - If you decide that you do not want to participate in the plan, but you
   would like to stay in MIT Housing, request a change:
   http://housing.mit.edu/undergraduate/change_your_assignment


We will continue to use the UA website (ua.mit.edu) and the undergrads
mailing list as our primary means of communication to keep you informed
about developments surrounding this issue.

Best wishes,
Vrajesh Modi, UA President
Sammi Wyman, UA Vice President
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