A swipe for Panda Express? Scores of students are unaware that this tasty swap is a possibility.
Meal plan swipes can in fact be exchanged for cash vouchers and used at Ackerman Union’s food retailers. By the end of the week, the value of these vouchers at most vendors will increase from the current $2.15 for lunch and $2.20 for dinner to $2.45 for all meals, according to Daryl Ansel, food and beverage director for UCLA Housing and Hospitality.
The increase resulted from a collaboration between the Undergraduate Students Association Council, Associated Students UCLA and the On-Campus Housing Council.
“It’s a step in the right direction,” said Thach Nguyen, former USAC general representative. “It’s cool that (ASUCLA and the Housing Council) are willing to work with us.”
Nguyen said that initially, the increase crusade was focused solely on increasing the vouchers’ values, but now it is concerned with informing students of their dining options and making it more convenient to use the voucher system in Ackerman.
“Students should be informed of what they’re buying,” said Brent Gaisford, a second-year economics student and USAC’s director of meal swipes on campus.
Nguyen also said that helping students take advantage of their payment choices is a major goal, and making vouchers easier to obtain will be a key component in this effort.
Currently, students must have the foresight to get vouchers from their residence hall’s front desk before trekking to Ackerman and using them, but Nguyen said he imagines a day when students will be able to swipe their BruinCards at a machine in Ackerman, receiving a voucher instantaneously. He said the BruinCard office is onboard and ASUCLA is offering to contribute at least $1,000 to the endeavor, making it likely that the machines will be installed next year.
Additionally, the value of a meal voucher will double for one day in early fall to generate awareness of the service among students, many of whom have no idea it exists. “I had no idea I could’ve been trading swipes for food cash all year,” said first-year undeclared student Cristina Pruett. “I think a lot more people will use the system once they know it’s there.”
In addition to promoting their existence, Gaisford is looking to increase the vouchers’ values even more in the future.
“It’d be great if we could get them to be a dollar or two more ““ $2.45 is too little,” he said.
In fact, only vouchers used at Ackerman’s self-run food operations will be worth $2.45. Ansel said the vouchers will carry a value of $2.15 at Ackerman’s franchise operations.
This pricing difference exists because ASUCLA contributes a portion of the vouchers’ values, giving 60 cents to vouchers used at self-run operations and 30 cents to those used at franchise operations.
The rest of a voucher’s value comes from UCLA Dining funds. This value was previously $1.55 for lunch and $1.60 for dinner, but after the change is implemented, it will rest at $1.85. It will be the first increase in UCLA Dining’s contribution to the voucher’s value since 1998.