As Brandeis enters the second year of its partnership with Harvest Table, significant transformations in meal plans, ordering systems and culinary choices await students during the 2023-2024 academic year. Following the inaugural year of the Brandeis-Harvest Table partnership, anticipation for change was inevitable.
Regarding meal swipes, the preceding year offered students a selection between 10, 12, 15 or 19 meal swipes per week. However, the upcoming year introduces Brandeis Hospitality’s “All-Access” meal plans featuring either five meal exchanges per week along with 175 points for the semester or 10 meal exchanges paired with 250 points for the semester. Each All-Access plan also encompasses five guest swipes per semester. The All-Access plan with five meal exchanges per week rounds out to be $3,829 per semester, while the plan with 10 meal exchanges per week is $4,180 per semester. The All-Access meal plan is essentially as it sounds: students have full access to Brandeis dining halls whenever they please. The All-Access meal plan is required for those living in traditional and suite style housing.
For students residing in apartment-style housing, Brandeis Hospitality presents two alternatives. The first is the 10-Block Plan, inclusive of 120 meal swipes, 400 points, five guest swipes and totaling $1,795 per semester. Alternatively, the 80-Block Plan offers 80 meal swipes, 300 points, five guest swipes, at a cost of $1,415 per semester.
In a similar vein, three meal plan options cater to commuter/voluntary students. The 90-Block Plan encompasses 90 meal swipes, 100 points and requires a payment of $1,125 per semester. The subsequent choice, the 60-Block Plan, involves 60 meal swipes, 60 points and costs $870 per semester. Lastly, the Points Only Plan grants 250 points, with an option to add more throughout the semester, with a total value of $250 based on monetary equivalence.
The most common meal plan amongst Brandeis students in the past has been the 12 meal plan. A comparison with this year’s All-Access meal plan reveals noteworthy disparities. The 12 meal plan cost $3,673, whereas the most economical All-Access meal plan (with five meal exchanges per week) is priced at $3,829. This $156 difference is a drastic shift from the average $30 increase of meal plan costs over the last few years.
In addition to the alterations in meal plans, Brandeis has revamped the mobile ordering system. In the previous year, “Starship” was the designated mobile ordering app used by students to make purchases across various campus dining venues. As a result of the pandemic, during the fall semester of last year, Brandeis Hospitality kept an exclusively mobile ordering model, necessitating students to place their orders via the app and collect them from the designated location in Upper Usdan. In the spring semester, the approach evolved to encompass both mobile and in-person ordering options. This adaptation facilitated students with potential app crashes or low phone batteries to still access the dining services at Upper Usdan. Starship allowed orders from Upper Usdan dining establishments, The Stein, Dunkin Donuts, Starbucks and Einstein Bros. Bagels.
For the upcoming academic year, Grubhub has been integrated as the new mobile ordering platform, affording students identical access to choices as before and still encompassing in-person ordering. Notably, the Starship robots remain available for delivering mobile orders to various points on campus.
Finally, Brandeis is introducing three new dining locations. Wok This Way, situated in Upper Usdan and replacing Nakiri, boasts authentic Asian cuisine and a modern take on Asian-inspired dishes. Positioned at the lower end of campus within the International Business School, World Court Cafe will offer Illy coffee, other beverages, snacks, pastries, etc. At the upper end of campus, the Heller School will house Coffee Smart Cafe, a 24/7 establishment featuring various drinks such as coffee, hot chocolate and more.
In the forthcoming year, Brandeis students will encounter a series of transformations in their dining experiences, spanning from meal plans, ordering systems and dining venues. For comprehensive information about Brandeis’ dining experience, visit Brandeis Hospitality’s website and consult their Instagram for regular updates.
