One of the best parts about living on University of Kentucky's campus is the convenience of it. Everything is close--classroom buildings, the library, and food. Food is the major concern of most college-aged kids. We are motivated by free food, and I swear you could train us with positive reinforcement treats, like puppies.
When I decided to live on UK's campus this year again for my sophomore year, I realized that the convenience of food has significantly lessened. The meal plans are rather worthless, and the poor freshmen don't know what their missing.
The biggest eye-catching item that is missing from a normal meal schedule is dinner. The times most dining options are available for meal swipes and wildcat deals are not ideal for dinner. Bowmen's den and other to-go options near the classroom buildings--like intermezzos or subway--are only available for a meal-swipe from 7am-4pm. This makes sense for lunches, since students are already near these locations around the time lunch rolls around.
However, dinner, a vital meal of the day, is not accounted for on the meal swipes. Not only are these locations unavailable for meal swipes, but the restaurants close to the dorms are unavailable as well. In fact, the only two options available for purchase through a meal-swipe is Fresh Food Company and Blazer Dining. These restaurants are more buffet/on-demand style cooking. This is fine if a student is wanting to have a leisurely dinner, but if they are trying to get food to-go, it is not quick. For a college student, this is less than ideal.
Looking at the restaurants near the dorms, it seems that there are plenty of options available for flex. For example, near the woodland glens, Haggin Hall, Johnson Hall, and Donovan Hall, the 90 is the closest dining option. As mentioned before, Fresh Food Company is the only option available for a meal swipe. Ovids (which was a meal swipe all day last year), Aqua Sushi, Taco Bell, and La Madeline are only available for flex at all times. K-lair, which is also relatively close, is only available for a meal-swipe from 10pm-12am--an inappropriate time to have a meal.
In addition, on North Campus near the dorms, the only option for a meal swipe is Blazer Dining. Steak and Shake, the newest restaurant on North campus, isn't available for a meal swipe at all. Bowman's Den, as previously mentioned, is only available for meals for lunch time. Common Grounds, only has food available from 10pm-12am, like K-lair.
Yes, meal plans come with some flex dollars, but "some" is just that. It's not enough to make up for the expense of quick on-the-go dinners during the week, when students are too busy to wait in line at Fresh or Blazer.
Ironically, the commuter meal plans seem to be the most ideal for students living on campus. From the commuter options, there are plans with much larger amounts of flex, fit for a more convenient dining experience and an all-together more affordable plan. For example, one plan costing $750, has $800 worth of flex that can be utilized at any UK dining restaurant campus wide.
However, students living on the dorms--the ones who are the majority patrons of on campus dining--have lower flex and more meal swipes for a loftier price. The least expensive of these plans costs $1419--almost double the price of a more flex heavy meal plan for commuters. Also, these students living on campus are unable to cancel their more expensive meal plans because it is a part of the housing contract.
As a result, on campus students are forced to pay double what the most ideal meal plan costs for a plan that won't get utilized as much. Delivery restaurants around campus are able to get more business, however. This is because for convenient dining for dinner is easier paid out of pocket for a busy college student--thus expending their already low bank accounts.
