Starting next semester, UW-Eau Claire students living off-campus who grow tired of Ramen noodles and Spaghetti-O’s will have the opportunity for a meal plan.
| Off Campus Meal Plan includes: – A&W – Stella Blues – Domino’s – Mancino’s – Mona Lisa’s – Taco John’s – Mogies – Hardees – Dancing Goat – Sammy’s – New York Pizza & Deli *More to be added in future semesters |
The Off Campus Meal Plan, or OCMP, will include a card that will enable students to eat at area restaurants so they will not have to worry about cash, said OCMP spokesman Michael Hauke.
More than 11 area restaurants are signed up for OCMP, including the Water Street businesses Taco John’s, Mogie’s Pub and Restaurant, Mona Lisa’s, Dancing Goat and New York Pizza and Deli. OCMP is planning to add more restaurants during the summer and in future semesters, Hauke said.
Currently, students can purchase one of six meal plans offered by the university. These plans, however, include only on-campus dining services.
Candi Wilson, Davies Center Business Operations Manager, said OCMP is unaffiliated with the university. She added students living on campus would still be required to sign up for one of the meal plans even if they purchase an OCMP card.
Sophomore Greg Fenzl, who is moving off-campus next year, said he would most likely use the OCMP card.
“It would be more convenient,” Fenzl said. “It would be nice not having to carry around cash.”
Fenzl added he was somewhat worried about his food options away from the dorms.
“Being on campus you take it for granted that the food’s right there and you don’t have to do any work to go get it,” Fenzl said.
The plan also advertises that restaurants will benefit from OCMP.
However, David Donnelly, general manager of Mogie’s, 436 Water St., said he was in the dark about OCMP despite the fact his restaurant is a part of the plan.
“I don’t know much about it,” he said. “It seems like it’s a company who issues debit cards.”
Nancy Loasching, store manager of Taco John’s, 242 Water St., said she was also waiting to hear the details of OCMP.
“I don’t really know what all it entails,” Loasching said. “They haven’t told me anything about how it’s going work.”
Hauke said OCMP, which will be expanding to more than 60 colleges next fall, is not only convenient for students but also easy for parents to know exactly where they money is being spent.
“For students, they don’t have to worry about not having enough cash on them,” he said. “It’s very easy to use … and also, they get tons of meals and discounts.”
Sophomore Neil Urbanski said he probably would purchase the OCMP card to keep track of money easier.
“Food gets real expensive and cooking … takes too much time,” Urbanski said. “I get sick of eating a lot of the same things so it would be cool to diversify what I eat.”
Hauke said Eau Claire was added because of numerous requests from the university.
“We get e-mails from all of the country from students asking ‘When are you coming to our campus?’ ” Hauke said.
OCMP was founded by its current president, David Diana, at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in 1995. It is the largest off campus meal plan provider in the country, according to a press release.
“We have received many requests for the program in the Eau Claire area throughout the past couple of years,” Diana said in the press release. “We are very excited to see its effects.”
