Carlie Pracht
Lantern Staff
Butler Community College requires all students residing in East, West or Cummins Hall to be on the Food Service Meal Plan.
“The meal plans are required for the students living in the residence halls, so that they have balanced meals throughout the semester,” Bill Rinkenbaugh, vice president of Student Services, said.
This requirement can cause issues for students who prefer to make or purchase their own meals or students who may face special dietary restrictions. Some students residing in the dorms may wonder why there are no other meal plan options.
“Over the course of my time at Butler, we have had questions raised about various meal plans,” Rinkenbaugh said. “Some options that we have explored include 15 meal plan options or 14 meal plan options. However, after consideration and the small reduction in cost, it was determined that it was best to remain with the 19 meal plan for the benefit of all of our students and the operation of the Food Service program.”
The Food Service program is funded by the sale of meals, including the meal plans, single meal sales and catering events.
Many students are unaware of the policies in place that help assist students with dietary restrictions.
“If they [the students] do have dietary issues, they just need to come and see me because if I don’t know that you’re allergic to nuts or are gluten free, I can’t fix it for you,” Jan Stitt, director of Food Service at Great Western Dining, said.
Stitt has an open-door policy, and she wants to hear from people about what they like and do not like.
The cafeteria can also make accommodations for anyone with a busy schedule that does not have time to sit down and eat during the cafeteria’s operating hours.
“If you have to go to work or if you have a meeting, just let us know and we’ll get to-go boxes for you,” Stitt said. “Let’s say you have to be at work at five, and you won’t be able to eat dinner that night, either we can have a to-go box of whatever is ready on the line for you, because most of the food is done by 5 p.m. so we can box it up for you, or we can have sack lunches made for you. There are other ways to get your meals.”
The cafeteria has an order slip that you can fill out ahead of time, so that they can work with your schedule.
Stitt and Rinkenbaugh encourage students to visit the cafeteria and voice any concerns they may have, so that Stitt and her staff can accommodate students’ needs.
Any concerns can be shared with Director of Residence Life Kelsey Reed, Rinkenbaugh, Coordinator of Student Involvement Andrea Weiss or Stitt, and they will take those concerns forward to the committee.
