RPS passes ‘I-Bucks’ for fall

“I-Bucks” are the new meal points.\nStudents who have been eating at Residential Programs and Services dining halls for the past few years will see a change when they come back in the fall. RPS announced in April that IU’s meal-point system will be replaced with I-Bucks. I-Bucks are similar to meal points with a few minor changes, said Errol Huffman, a business consultant and training coordinator for RPS Dining Services. Huffman explained that the new system, which he helped design, is meant to add flexibility for students, giving them greater “purchasing power” through I-Buck discounts.\nThe system is divided into two main plans: “Cream” and “Crimson.” The “Cream” plan is broken into four sub-plans that mostly mirror the cost of the old A, B, C and D plans, Huffman said. The “Crimson” plan costs $500 and gives students 400 I-Bucks. With both plans, Huffman said a portion of the cost goes toward either administrative costs or operational costs such as labor, supplies and maintenance. The other portion goes to the student in the form of I-Bucks. If students get the “Cream” plan’s most costly “Max” sub-plan for $3,600, they receive 1,920 I-Bucks and the remaining money, $1,680, goes toward operational costs. The plan includes a 60 percent discount for students on anything that can be bought in RPS dining halls or stores.\nIf a student gets the “Crimson” plan, $100 of it goes to administrative costs, including additional hourly labor and supplies. With the plan, students receive 400 I-Bucks with a 25 percent discount when they make a purchase at any RPS dining hall or store, Huffman said.\nStudents shouldn’t notice a change when they make a purchase at the dining halls, Huffman said. If students buy food at Wright Quad and the total comes to $10, in the past $10 would have just been taken off of his or her meal point balance. Now, with the “Cream” discount, only $4 is taken from the student’s account, Huffman said.\nHuffman said one trick to remembering how the new system works is to think of one I-Buck equaling $2.50 with the included 60 percent discount for the “Cream” plan, and one I-Buck equaling $1.33 with the 25 percent discount for the “Crimson” plan.\nJunior Katelyn Bullman said she used meal points when she lived in the dorms and still uses Campus Access on her student ID card often. Huffman said nothing should change with regard to Campus Access. \nBullman said she thinks the new meal-point system won’t affect her as much as it will other students.\nShe said if she were a freshman living in the dorms, though, the new system would be better than the meal-point system because she thinks it won’t be as strict with regard to rollover from year to year. The “Crimson” plan, however, is specifically geared toward upperclassmen.\n“It’s an option for them to be able to join back in the community on a level they’re comfortable with,” Huffman said.\nJunior Jennifer Coil said I-Bucks sound better than meal points because freshmen used to have only a few limited plans to choose from. She added that when she lived on campus, her parents wasted a lot of money because she did not use all of her meal points.\nStudents will also be able to bill and add more I-Bucks through their bursar accounts, Huffman said. Also, 100 percent of I-Bucks can be carried into the next semester as long as the student or faculty member is enrolled on campus and has chosen a “Cream” or “Crimson” plan.\nBullman said she thinks the new system will be an effective change on campus.\n“It just sounds better,” she said.