Chocolate Bar 'switch' a correction of error

The Chocolate Bar's recent "switch" to residential dining bucks was actually not a switch at all, according to administrators within Dining Services, but rather a correction of what they say was a large-scale mistake.

All semester, students have been able to use their mandatory meal plans at The Chocolate Bar. Dining Services was not aware of this until last week, when an unhappy student e-mailed Wechsler saying that money being spent at The Chocolate Bar was coming off of the meal plan rather than residential dining bucks.

In an interview with Helen Wechsler, director of Dining Services, Megan O'Neill, associate director of restaurant operations, and Michael Kann, associate director of food and beverage, all three expressed with confidence that to their understanding, The Chocolate Bar had always been a part of the $125 residential dining bucks account.

The student's e-mail prompted Dining Services to look into this claim and discover the glitch. "It was literally a human key punch error," said Wechsler.

Wechsler explained that all the meal plan information is programmed into a server before the start of the academic year, and that cashiers are unaware of what plan the money is deducted from. This left Dining Services in the dark until e-mails from many students arrived in Wechsler's inbox.

Dining Services claimed that by no means was it attempting to suddenly cheat students out of their favorite lattes and frappes without informing them. "We don't change our policy within our meal plans willy-nilly. We also don't change them mid-year," said Wechsler.

The Chocolate Bar, since its opening in the fall of 2005, was always intended to be part of residential dining bucks. This is primarily because The Chocolate Bar is the only venue that serves exclusively treats, which are extras, said Wechsler. The lack of healthy choices was also a reason not to include items at The Chocolate Bar on the mandatory meal plan. "It's my job to provide you with well-balanced choices, and The Chocolate Bar is the only operation where there are no well-balanced choices," said Wechsler.

In response to rumors that The Chocolate Bar was placed on residential dining bucks because it is the least successful dining venue on campus, Wechsler disagreed. She said she feels quite satisfied with the success of The Chocolate Bar, considering it is still a new operation. "It's as popular as we want and need it to be," she said.

"The worst thing people can say is that we don't communicate," Wechsler said, referring to the Heights editorial Monday, which asserted that Dining Services had not notified students of changes within their department well enough.

Dining Services is a customer-driven department, and it is up to Wechsler to strike a balance between pleasing the customer and being fiscally responsible, she said. Wechsler must break even at the end of the year. Tuition dollars don't go to Dining Services, only money from the meal plan. In order to pay for rent, utilities, products, and labor, with employees who work 40 hours per week at a living wage, Wechsler must work hard just to meet this goal each year.

In order to satisfy student customers, she is in friendly contact with The Heights, the Quality of Student Life committee, the Dining Committee, and resident assistants on campus. Much of the work with these groups goes on behind the scenes, leading some to believe that not enough cooperative efforts with the students are being made.

Eight thousand surveys were sent out to students about what items they would like to see in the Rat, but only 2,200 responded, which Wechsler was told was a good showing. In general however, Dining Services e-mails sent out to students are just not read. "We've heard that students delete them before even opening them," said Wechsler.

The $125 allotted to each student in residential dining bucks allows for purchases at The Chocolate Bar as well as The Bean Counter, Channel Surfing, vending machines, and concessions, in addition to all the venues that are part of the mandatory meal plan.

Plus, if students do have anything left over on their residential dining bucks, any balance remaining rolls over into the next year. Upon graduation, a 100 percent refund will be applied to student accounts on any balance over $5.

For students who want to be careful not to run out of this $125 but still want to enjoy their fondue and frozen hot chocolate, there are some special opportunities to purchase Chocolate Bar items as part of the mandatory meal plan. Chocolate Bar items are featured as desserts at Carney's in McElroy during Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Valentine's Day.

The Chocolate Bar has always been added to the mandatory meal plan during study days and the week of final exams for students who need a sweet treat while studying. For those students that crave specialty coffee, the most popular item at The Chocolate Bar according to Wechsler, Hillside Café, which is on the mandatory meal plan, offers a similar product.