Meal Plans

To Buy or Not to Buy

One of the biggest worries parents have when sending their child off to college, is how will they eat? Let’s face it, we have been buying, prepping, and cooking for our “babies” since they were actually babies! Here’s where meal plans come in.

Yes, some of our kids have learned to cook and prepare their own meals, but some parents know that their children would starve if they had to cook for themselves. So, these days the worry is taken away with great options for meals. When I was a student, the options were slim for on-campus eating, and I remember ordering lots of pizza and making fast food runs. But today, there are five residential dining locations offering tons of choices and over 20 other popular eateries. Surviving on pizza is no longer a worry when students can enjoy sushi, gourmet coffees, and custom salads at their leisure.

At UGA, there are two types of meal plans for students, Residential and Commuter. Like their names, they are designed for the type of students using them. The Residential all-access meal plan allows a student unlimited access to Bolton, Oglethorpe, Snelling, The Village Summit, and the Niche. It comes in a 5-day or 7-day option. Residential meal plan participants may come and go as often as they’d like during the meal plan serving hours for the academic year. Those with Paw Points can also eat at the retail locations across campus. Paw Points give access to all dining locations and retail locations, as well as all Coca-Cola vending machines. Paw Points are deducted with each purchase and remain active for that calendar year.

Commuter plans give access to those living off-campus. Students are given a set number of meals per semester to use at Bolton, Oglethorpe, Snelling, The Village Summit and the Niche during the academic year and must be used in full each semester or the unused meals will be forfeited. It is 65-80 meals per year. Paw Points can also be used with this plan.

One of the great things about UGA meal plans is that you do have the option to change your meal plan during the school year. This request has to be made in your Dining Services Account, there is no deadline for these changes. If you join a Greek organization that offers a meal plan, you are allowed to cancel your UGA meal plan at any time in the semester and join the organization’s meal plan. You need to know that Greek organizations are separate from UGA and therefore this change would involve a cancellation and an application onto the Greek meal plan, not a transfer, but joining the Greek meal plan is not required for membership.

Not to be confused with Paw Points, Bulldog Bucks can also be used to pay for meals at the dining services locations. Bulldog Bucks are basically dollars loaded to be used for dining, vending, printing, and at retail locations on campus. It’s also a great way for parents to be able to send money. Simply load some cash onto your student’s Bulldog Bucks account and then they have extra money for on-campus needs, and these do roll over from semester to semester and are available until they are all gone.

The Bulldawg Box Program offers students the chance to fill up a reusable to-go box for either that meal or for a future meal. Simply tell the cashier before you are scanned and your meal will be deducted. There are certain rules and times available for the Box Program, so check here for all information. As far as other eateries on campus, there are plenty of options. Chains like Chick-fil-A, Au Bon Pain, Einstein Bagels, Eastside Deli, Panda Express, Starbucks, and Sushi with Gusto all have sites on campus, and there are coffee shops everywhere. Trust me, your student won’t go hungry!

An interesting thing with UGA and dining is that you no longer have to swipe your ID or have a meal plan card. When you first use your meal plan, your eye will be scanned into an IRIS database. Each time you check into a location, your eye will be scanned and your meal applied. It is always wise to have your ID on you because some places won’t scan during late hours, and you never know when the technology will have a glitch.

For the fall of 2020, dining halls will be open for the Labor Day Holiday, Fall Break, and the online class period between Thanksgiving Break and Christmas break. They will be closed for Thanksgiving Break and Christmas Break. For spring 2021, dining halls will be open on the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday and Spring Break. Just because dining halls are open during breaks does not mean that all of them are open every day for their regular hours, so make sure you check before going to eat to make sure which ones are open!

Due to COVID-19, dining halls will only be open to meal plan participants, which is different since they are usually open to the public. This change is for the foreseeable future to keep students at UGA safe and healthy, so if you plan to eat in the dining halls this year, you need to sign up for a meal plan as soon as possible.

Now, if visions of the dreaded “freshman 15” are filling your already worried mind, fear not! There are many healthy options all over campus and you can always find vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free choices, as well as dining nutrition counseling if you like. Also, check out our other blogs on healthy living.

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