The students’ association board of directors unanimously approved a plan during its Friday meeting to move the Ackerman Union post office to a bigger space and to increase the value of residence hall meal tickets by 30 cents.
The current post office is in a small space next to the Coins arcade, and the board wants to make sure the post office offers the best possible customer service, said Student Union Director Roy Champawat.
“We have an opportunity to move into a different space … immediately across the elevators on A-level,” Champawat said.
The board was able to move to the larger room because the current tenant, a Communications Technology Services cell phone store, was never opened for business because of technical difficulties, according to an Associated Students UCLA document.
The document stated that Communications Technology Services expressed a desire to terminate its occupancy agreement in Ackerman for “internal reasons.”
Bob Williams, the executive director of ASUCLA, said the move will cost around $26,000 and should be completed before the end of the school year.
Additionally, the board’s vote to increase the value of the meal coupon is the first such effort in 10 years.
Cindy Bolton, the director of ASUCLA restaurants, said the residence halls provide a coupon in exchange for a meal swipe that is usable at ASUCLA facilities at a value of $1.55 for lunch and $1.60 for dinner. ASUCLA is reimbursed for that value by the residence halls, and currently adds a 30 cent contribution to the coupon’s value, making it worth $1.85 for lunch and $1.90 for dinner.
With the unanimous vote, ASUCLA will contribute 60 cents rather than 30 cents to the meal coupon’s value. Under the new plan, the coupon will be worth $2.15 for lunch and $2.20 for dinner, Bolton said.
Williams said the current meal coupon usage is very low, perhaps due in part to the new dining facilities on the Hill and the use of meal swipes to buy bottled beverages.
ASUCLA will lose 60 cents per coupon, but Williams said the move is a better deal for students.
The association will run a promotion highlighting the increase called “Double Your Dorm Coupon” from Feb. 4 to 8. The promotion temporarily increases the value of the meal coupon to $3.70 for lunch and $3.80 for dinner, for that week only.
Although the board voted to increase the value of meal coupons, ASUCLA is hitting a difficult patch in its sales.
Williams said the 2007 fiscal year had record sales through November, but hit a snag in December and January.
He attributed the slowing sales in part to the economic climate of the nation, which has affected many retail outfits.
But Williams noted that last year’s sales were extraordinary strong because of UCLA’s football victory over the University of Southern California and added that 2008 thus far has been a better year than the comparable period in 2006.
Rich Delia, ASUCLA’s chief financial officer, said the association should be able to control costs despite the slowdown, which has also extended to the remodel of the Cooperage. Williams said the remodel was advancing at a disappointing pace.
But in spite of the difficulties, Williams said that the association was prepared to make “lemonade out of lemons.”