Auxiliary Services representatives say they’re doing their best to use students’ money wisely, despite some students’ concerns that the money they have to fork over for meal plans is too much.
The university collects the approximately $4.7 million from students’ meal plans. From there, Biola keeps about 35 percent of the money it takes in from meal plans (around $1.7 million), then gives the other 65 percent (around $3.1 million) to Bon Appétit, which operates the Caf and its services.
Biola uses its 35 percent of the cash to pay for things like utilities, student checks, new equipment, and equipment repairs, White said. Last year alone, the school had to spend nearly $160,000 on repairing and purchasing equipment, said White. Bon Appétit uses its 65 percent of the share to pay for food, cost and labor, and various expenses. Profit makes up just about 7 percent of the total.
“We don’t mess around when we are figuring up prices for meals, housing, and tuition,” she said. “We know it is tremendously expensive, but we have to pay bills and believe me, we use the money wisely.”
The jump in cost for meal plans of at least $70 per plan is in line with the university’s approximate annual increase of 4 to 5 percent, said Carolyn White, auxiliary operations manager. Students may wonder why the increase is still in effect, considering the dilapidated state of the economy. The university can’t cut corners when it comes to expenses, however, White said.
“We’re a team,” White said, referring to Biola and the catering company. “Bon Appétit has been here for almost 25 years. We’re partners in this.”
Other expenses are taking a toll on the university and Bon Appétit, even though they haven’t directly affected students’ wallets just yet.
This year, Biola had to hand over another payment of about $1.25 million for the remodel of the Caf which happened four years ago. Those payments are due to end about four years from now, but the school is “trying to pay it off sooner,” White said. The school is always looking for ways to please students’ requests, provide the best quality foods and have the best services. At the end of the road, all that adds up to a massive bill.
Also, the continuous hours in the Caf between Mondays and Thursdays have necessitated an increase in employees and labor hours. Biola isn’t sure how much more it will cost just yet. Bon Appétit has budgeted $40,000 for the changes, a bill it plans to foot for this year. Biola will review the results of the hour changes in June.
“We don’t know how it’s going to affect anything because we haven’t done it before,” White said.
Despite the financial uncertainties surrounding the new continuous dining schedule, there is an up side to it all.
“It is better; it is not really a hassle because we prepare all the food at once and just keep it warm. Also, it’s good for students who have difficult schedules and a plus for us workers, because we deal with smaller crowds at a time,” said Miguel Victor, a cook for the Caf.
White emphasized that the school isn’t ripping off students.
“Students think they’re paying $1,940 for food,” which really isn’t the case, White said. “It’s just very expensive to run a university, to run a Bon Appétit account.”
